Skin Deep
by hogwartshoodlum
Summary: Six years after Voldemort, Harry has been left unfeeling since the war, unable to even love the woman that he is going to marry. But do Hermione and Draco know more about his condition than they are telling and will such a secret bring them together?
1. A struggled begining

CHAPTER ONE A STRUGGLED BEGINNING

"Fame is a fickle friend. Remember that, Harry." A not-so-great man once said while sitting in the presence of "The boy who lived". Not once in the office, or in the 10 years after he heard those words, did Harry ever truly listen to them. Now, "The boy who lived" sat in a busy lobby, completely ignored by all around him, waiting for word on a mediocre, at best, job that was being offered only by a close friend.

It had been six years since the defeat of the darkest wizard that ever lived by a mere boy of 17. Since then Harry had gone from being "Our savior" and "the boy who defeated You-Know-Who" to just another face in the crowd, the lightning bolt scar that had once made him so recognizable was now collaged into the many other scars that altered this once striking boys face. Not that he wasn't still noticed, but when they did it was mostly by young girls thinking that he looked like an untouchable boy, his mysterious visage accentuated with dull, yet still striking green eyes that had such a look of suffering that they either wanted to be his mother or girlfriend just to figure him out or protect him. Even to his close friends Harry had dissapered into the sidelines of lives that once were in question and now could be lived to the fullest. He had become an acquaintance to people whose very existence had, at one time, depended on him. Even worse, most of the people that he depended on in his life had been ripped from him much to soon. He spoke rarely, and smiled even less.

Harry took off his glasses and set them in his lap. His eyesight had worsened since that night, but he seemed to prefer the world when it wasn't in focus. It seemed easier to get through when all that walked by or passed around him was a blur. He closed his eyes and rested his over-weighted head on the wall behind him. His body seemed much older then it's 23 years, and his mind carried the troubles of someones twelve times his age. He had always thought things would be so much better when Voldemort was finally gone, that the world would fall into place, but now it seemed that everything he touched instead fell to pieces.

"Mr. Potter, could you follow me please," came a used-to-be familiar voice. A very badly aged woman limped slowly out of the blurred crowd, and when Harry replaced his glasses he saw the weathered face of Madam Pomfrey, the former Hogwarts' healer.

Harry stood slowly and felt his knees groan under his weight. He rushed to meet her as it looked as though she may pass out at any moment, and offered his left arm to her right, her left preoccupied with a knarled old cane.

"Now Mr. Potter, what would these poor people think if they saw their healer being carried into her office like some invalid?" She joked, but Harry saw a flicker of gratitude cross her tired eyes. "Now, I believe that you wanted to talk to me about getting a job working for me. Is that correct?"

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey. If you happen to have anything available."

"For my most frequent patient? I do believe I could whip something up." she replied with a faint cough. "Come, let's see what we can do for you dear."

They crossed the vast lobby of St. Mungo's and stepped hurriedly through the back office doors, as many people had just entered either on fire or screaming that it was their own fault for setting off the fireworks indoors.

As she closed the doors on the chaos that was ensuing outside, Madam Pomfrey turned to take in the boy she could see had grown into a very disturbed young man. At the school, he had always looked just like his father and spent almost just as much time in the infirmary. She had had the chance to get to know this boy more than any student that had ever crossed into her ward, and she saw now that the years of injuries had only perhaps prepared him for the pain he had obviously been inflicted with in the years since she had last seen him.

"I missed you, you know. Your last year. I had just ordered an entire case of skele-grow that I'm afraid had to go to waste. And who did the healing on that scar on the side of your head? They didn't have a very good go at it did they." She smiled wide at him but stopped as suddenly as his expression hadn't changed even in the slightest.

"I'm sorry Madam Pomfrey, I didn't mean to make you waste your skele-grow. I wasn't planning on it. I'm sure it would have been very useful." Harry's face changed slightly but it wasn't even recognizable as a smile. Madam Pomfrey decided it was time to get on with the interview as she was worried that she would begin to cry if she saw that look on his face for much longer.

"I don't know if you even want to take a seat, because I'm afraid that all I have to offer you isn't fit for someone of your stature. I'd love to be of more help, but since the wa- well, since it happened, I have been pretty well staffed. A lot of your fellow seventh years suddenly took an interest in Healing. In fact, Dean Thomas is one of my finest trainers now. I'm afraid all I have to offer is a job as an aide on the closed ward. Not something that you of all people would be..."

"I'll take it. I'll take whatever you've got. You see, the job offers aren't exactly rolling in right now. I have no experience and no special training. I didn't graduate, as you know and...well to tell you the truth, I havn't fully recovered from the fall of Gringotts."

Madam Pomfrey was taken completly aback by these words. Of course no one had gotten back to where they were since Voldemort had persuaded the Goblins that the money buried in their vaults was rightfully theirs. Even the wealthiest family's had been wiped clean and unless you where loyal to the Dark Lord you were left with nothing. Even those that kept their gold at home had been raided. It was difficult times that they lived in.

"But Harry," she said dropping the formalities instantly, "what is so bad that you are so desperate?"

"Oh no, it's not that it's so bad. It's a good thing really. I'm, well, I'm getting married in a month and I need to have something to rely on, and like I said, the Galleons aren't exactly rolling in. Thank you for the offer. I'll start first thing in the morning. When should I be here?"

"Nine should be fine dear."

Before she had even finished her sentence, Harry had crossed the office to the door and had it propped open on his worn trainers. "I'll see you at nine then. Thank you."

And just like that, the wizarding worlds' greatest hero, his head hung on his limp shoulders, disappeared into the vast emptiness again.

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Just wanted to add in some teasers for the next chapter. I hope to do this for every one to keep you intrigued

Chapter 2 Teaser

"I do love you, Ginny." He heard himself whisper into her ears. As he began to drift, he prayed that one day it would be more then just the words. Even lying in bed, running his fingers through the hair of his sleeping bride to be, Harry could not find comfort. It was inconceivable to him that he could look into the eyes of this unbelievable beauty and not feel a damn thing past his finger tips.


	2. A World Worth Saving?

CHAPTER TWO A WORLD WORTH SAVING?

How can you see into my eyes

Like open doors?

Leading you down into my core,

Where I've become so numb.

Without a soul,

My spirit's sleeping somewhere cold,

Until you find it there and lead it back

Home.

As Harry walked home from the hospital, he took in the sights and sounds that meant he was nearly there. He passed unnoticed through street corners covered in ill-looking prostitutes and drug addicts. He kept his head down and his jacket pulled close around him as he walked briskly along a very selective path. He marveled in how unhappy everyone looked. Didn't they know that everything was better now? Didn't Voldemorts' defeat mean that everyone would be safe and happy? Or had all of Harry's dreams been just that. Dreams. Hopes for a better world that would never have come true. It was street corners like this, with the pregnant fourteen year old girl who's face was covered in Herpes and who reeked of urine that Harry wondered if it had really been worth losing his loved ones and risking his life to save this world.

Harry walked through the filthy streets until he reached the street where Grimmauld place was located. He still couldn't quite say that he was returning home, as it had never felt like a place of sanctuary. He had inherited the house from Sirius when he was still only sixteen, but he had not moved in until he had no other place to go to. When they weren't traveling with the Order or looking for Voldemort, they had always been at the Burrow, which, besides Hogwarts, had been Harry's only true home. Now after the final battles, even if the Burrow still stood, it would only be a house of heartache.

He approched the hidden doorframe of number 12 and stood for a second starring at the doorknob, wondering just what waited for him on the other side. Taking a deep sigh, he opened the door to a scream of delight and a flash of red. Before he could even get the door closed he had his fiance wrapped tightly around his waist and kissing the base of his neck softly. He looked down into her dazzling eyes and saw true love and devotion shining back.

"So...how did it go?" Ginny cooed quietly into his ear. "Did you find something to make you happy? I mean, something that you would enjoy?"

"I got a job at St. Mungo's. I don't know if I'll like it, but it will bring bread to the table. At least I can feel like I'm contributing to this wedding finally."

"Baby, I told you that I didn't need anything big. Just you. That's all I'll ever need. Just you."

Not finding the right words to say, Harry kissed her forehead softly before smiling weakly and turning to walk up the staircase to their room.

Harry hoped that this time, just this once, he would be able to walk straight to the bedroom without stopping outside that door. But he had not been lucky before and lady luck would fail him now. He stopped where the carpet had been worn thin from days of pacing in front of the locked door. Harry had given the only key to Ginny for he did not want to be able to enter, and yet, every time he passed he found himself mesmerized by what lay inside. It had been Sirius's' room in life, and now it had become a tomb for all those fallen by the Dark Lord's far reach. Portraits of all his family and friends that had been taken from him much too soon lay forgotten and fading behind the locked door. He could not bring himself to see their faces even though they paraded in front of his eyes every time he slept. Sirius was in there. As well as Dumbledore, his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and Lupin. Their wisdom forever burned into his brain and their voices rang in his ears, but he could not bring himself to look at them. He had made Ginny promise that she would not enter that room for any reason, and that she would not let anyone else disturb their timeless rests. He would have thrown away the key if he wasn't afraid every day that there would be another portrait to add to the shadows. Many of his friends still lay dying, six years later, from many different curses and non-healing injuries and one by one he knew they would all become more ghosts walking the hallways of his home.

Harry lay in bed with his head buried under his pillow when he heard Ginny enter the room. He instantly shallowed and weakened his breathing so he appeared to be asleep. He felt her slowly creep onto the bed and she rested her hand on his inner thigh.

"Harry. Are you awake?"

He couldn't bring himself to look at her after that afternoon in the entryway. He noticed that as her sing-song whispers washed over him and her hand rested on his leg that he felt himself begin to throb. Why this? Why was this the only feeling in his body. The one he had no control over. A deep loathing for his own genitals had began to rise in Harry's stomach and he rolled over to cut off her access. He felt guilty for being aroused by her and yet that's how it should have been. But why only arousal? Isn't there more to love? Or was this it. What the fuck was wrong with him?

He lay in bed struggling to fall asleep as he felt her body warm up the bed next to him. She grabbed his arm up and forced him to roll over towards her where she molded her body into the curves of his. He felt the embarrasement swell along with his dick and tried to roll back but she pulled him closer against him and sighed.

"Your not getting away from me, Harry." Ginny giggled. "So don't even try. You might be stronger then me but I bet you didn't get an Outstanding in Charms. One wrong move, buddy, and I'll hex you." His breath parted her hair as he let out a short bit of laughter. She was the only one that made him feel this good. If this is what love was then that would be good enough for him. But he knew that it wasn't good enough for her. He did feel something then. Something strong. Fear. Fear of losing her.

"Ginny...I..." His voice was broken by the sudden rush of tears that were pounding through his throat. He knew he was going to start crying, but he welcomed the feeling. Ever since the war had ended he welcomed any feeling that entered his body. Fear of losing Ginny, resentment of what he'd lost. He had found himself causing himself pain just to know he was still alive. A punch to a wall, hard enough to bruise or break or a hair brush on the knee. He preferred it when he could get a good enough bruise that all he'd have to do to reinjure it would be to push on it. It was more discrete to reopen a busted vein under the skin on his leg from inside a pocket then on his hand. Then the only person to see it would be Ginny, who already knew it was there anyway. He found he couldn't hide anything from her. She could see right through him to the very depths of his soul, and she was the only person that had ever understood.

"I know baby. I know." Ginny looked over her shoulder and her red locks brushed away the only tear that had fallen from his straining ducts. "Harry, you don't have to hide it from me. It's okay to cry. I would love to see you cry actually. OK, that sounded really mean," she began to laugh before her face fell into a worried scowl "but I would kick your ass if I had to just to know you were feeling me." She smiled as she ran her fingers across his strong jaw. "You know I love you. More than anything in this entire world I love you. And I know, under those cloudy eyes and the tired face, you love me too. You wouldn't be here if you didn't, right? I can wait. I'll be here." With that she turned her head over and pressed her flowery tresses against his chest. His chin rested on top of her head and his arms draped around her. As his breathing began to fall into rhythm with hers, he ran his fingertips over her pillowy lips and let her kiss them.

"I do love you, Ginny." He heard himself whisper into her ears. As he began to drift, he prayed that one day it would be more then just the words. Even lying in bed, running his fingers through the hair of his sleeping bride to be, Harry could not find comfort. It was inconcievable to him that he could look into the eyes of this unbelievable beauty and not feel a damn thing past his finger tips. The silky smooth sensuality of her hair he could feel. As he moved farther back her head and ran over her ears, those soft ears that had listened so lovingly over the past six years and had taken in every complaint, every tear, every scream, he felt nothing more then the sharp stick that her earring gave to his tips. His fingers, searching, pleading, for a spot to hit that would wake up his soul at long last, came to rest on the tender, supple tissue of her erect breasts. Ginny gave a small sigh and a smile in her sleep before she rolled over to place her back against his form. He prayed that she would not wake up to see the clouds of despair rolling slowly into his dull green eyes.

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Chapter 3 Teaser

Someone had crept up behind him in the dark and was breathing heavily into his ears. That heavy breathing sounded familiar to him. He turned to look but the world began to blur around him as his bedroom came into clearer focus. In the dark next to him in his bed, he felt more than saw Ginny breathing very heavy in her sleep. He began to wonder what her dreams had been filled with, when he put his arm around her and felt her arm moving slowly. He hardly had time to imagine what could be when Ginny let out a soft moan that let him know his imagination wasn't ever that nice to him.

Lyrics are Bring me to life by Evanescence


	3. In the heat of the night

Thanks to all of you that have been reading this story. I know that it has a little bit of a slow beginning, but trust me, from here on out, it's gonna start to speed up. I hope that you all enjoy. Please review.

**AN: I have received a reveiw that worried about the abuse content involved in this story. From here on out, I will be putting a sex/abuse warning at the tops of chapters with this content. Please read at your own discretion. **

**This chapter contains both sex and slight abuse**

CHAPTER THREE IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT

Harry didn't sleep well that night. His dreams were strange. He found himself walking through the hallway towards a door he couldn't get too. He began to panic that he would find himself in the Department of Mysteries in the presence of Voldemort. Even though it had been years since he had seen this hallway he though that it didn't look quite like this before. In fact he was sure of it. Those weren't torches lining the walls. They were heads. House-elf heads. He breathed a sigh of relief as he found himself in his own home in the hallway to Sirius' room. There was a light creeping under the door and he began to feel angry. Who would dare go into that room without his permission? He tried to run towards the door but it kept getting further from his reach. He stopped suddenly as he felt hot breath on the back of his neck. Someone had crept up behind him in the dark and was breathing heavily into his ears. That heavy breathing sounded familiar to him. He turned to look but the world began to blur around him as his bedroom came into clearer focus.

In the dark next to him in his bed, he felt more than saw Ginny breathing very heavy in her sleep. He began to wonder what her dreams had been filled with, when he put his arm around her and felt her arm moving slowly. He hardly had time to imagine what could be when Ginny let out a soft moan that let him know his imagination wasn't ever that nice to him. He didn't want her to know that he was awake just yet but it wasn't even a moment later that he was betrayed by his closest friend.

Ginnys moan caught between her lips as she realized that Harry was awake and fully aware of what she was doing. He felt her hand slow reluctantly and knew that she knew she had been caught. Her breathing was still quickened and her back arched almost painfully into his stomach as she reached up for his hand. He knew that she had been close and that she was needing to feel release and soon.

She pulled his fingers up to her mouth and nibbled lightly on the tips. She turned them over in her hands and looked at all of the scars those strong hands held. She knew how many lives he had held in those hands throughout his life and the wonderful things he had accomplished with them. They had saved an entire world, and now they were going to rescue her.

She looked longingly at him over her shoulder as she pushed his hand toward her throbbing clit. He could feel her heart beating as he moved over her sweating stomach and reached the restricting cotton of her underware. Gently he slipped his hand between the fabric and her skin and instantly felt the radiating heat. She grabbed at his wrist and thrust downward placing his fingers directly where she wanted them to go. She was already extreamly wet and Harrys digits slipped easily around her swollen clit until he found just the right buttons. She no longer needed to hide her moans and she let out a long and pleading scream. Her body was begging him to ease the building pressure from inside her. He slid closer to her opening and felt her thrust her approval for admittance. Her hips thrust his fingers deep into her and she let out a gasp of suprise and relief. Her womanhood grasped around his fingers, pulling him deeper inside. He felt her quicken her thrusts and knew that she must be close. He massaged her pulsing tissues and they molded around his fingers. She was so soft and warm and Harry wanted to fully explore her inner being. He thrust his fingers deeper, trying to reach to the top, but he couldn't get deep enough to satisfy his cravings. She reached around her head and grabbed a chunk of his hair and with her other hand she dug into his hips, tearing at both his hair and skin.

The heat between them had become almost too much to bear and yet their bodies weren't close enough for Ginny. As the pressure continued, she knew that there was only one way she wanted to come. Harry's fingers, while well intending, couldn't reach deep enough or thick enough to bring her full force like she yearned to do. She reached around her hips and grasped onto the only thing that could fill her the way she wanted. Harry let out a moan of surprise as he began to throb, thick with desire for her as well. With her other hand she grabbed his wrist and pulled his fingers out almost reluctantly. "I need you." she moaned as she began to roll over onto her back. With one wave of her hand, all of her clothing disappeared into thin air leaving her feminine form naked on the sheets. Her legs spread until both knees hit the bed and the strong smell of sex filled the room. She wouldn't be able to wait long.

She ran her finger down the front of his shirt, evaporating it as she trailed his chest. He had always been scrawny, but he had at least a bit more definition since school she noticed. She giggled at the thought of how boyish he still appeared, but she quickly turned it into a seductive giggle . She would never have told him that, and now was especially not the best time.

As his clothes began to disaperate around him, Harry felt his mind begin to panic. "Ginny, I can't." He pleaded for her to understand but she had barely heard him.

"You've never had trouble filling the position before," she cooed. She knew he was turned on. His erection told her more then his words ever could. He desired her, needed her, and she was more then willing to oblige.

"No. I don't mean that." Harry blurted out. "I mean I can't keep doing this. I can't just use you like this. For this," and he grabbed at his erection, " I don't want to use you anymore. I want there to be feeling behind it. Not just sex. It's amazing, don't get me wrong, but I always feel so damn guilty afterwards. God, Ginny, I want so bad to feel you inside ME. In my soul. I don't think I can do this anymore. Not until I find out how to fix whatever it is that's wrong with me. I can't do that to you."

"You can't do this to me either, Harry." Her playful voice was becoming a bit more serious as she realized he just might be. He couldn't possibly leave her like this. Not when he could see that she was ready and willing and burning for him. She grabbed around his waist with the hope that he wouldn't be able to resist but she felt him pull back almost immediately. She thought she would always understand his illness, if that was what it was. She knew that he had lost all those he had dared become close to and it had almost killed him once, but she always knew there was a way around that and into his heart. She had to believe that she could get in there. She also believed that nothing would ever keep her from understanding him and she would be able to be patient. But somewhere in the last ten seconds, all understanding had suddenly left her.

She clutched at the bed covers as she sat up and wrapped them tightly around her naked form. She suddenly felt violated and didn't want him to see her in this vunerable state. "I'm tired, Harry. I'm tired of this. I love you, I do, but I'm sick of being the only one in this bed. I want you to love me back. No, damnit, I need it. All I wanted was for you to feel something for me, Harry. Anything! I know it's in there. You can't just be a fucking robot the rest of your life. I'm not buying that there's nothing there. You have to love me, hate me, despise me, just fucking tell me. I can't be the only one anymore."

"You think this is what I want!? You think I want to lie next to you night after night, knowing the pain it would cause you to be in my skin. To know that there was nothing beyond my fingers. I've been numb for years now. I don't know what to do about it, but I'm certainly not enjoying this."

"You think you're the only one that lost someone. I lost EVERYTHING! I never even see my brothers anymore, and their the only family I have left. All I have here is you. Just you. That should be enough, but it's not Harry. You might still be here, but you're not in this room with me. I'm completely fucking alone. But I can still love you. I can love you despite what you put me through day after day. I don't believe that there's nothing inside you. I lived every day of my life waking up to my mother and father being right down the stairs, and now I'll never see them again. You think that by locking them away in that room your saving yourself more pain? You can't even feel pain. What about me? Did you ever stop to think that I might want to talk to my parents? To see their faces in the morning? You're upset about your parents? I'm sorry Harry, but you don't even fucking know your parents."

Ginny was looking up at Harry from the floor before he even knew he had moved. The back of his left hand burned and he knew it would match the feeling on her cheek. He stood over her with a pure look of disbelief, his jaw hanging open as he watched her place a hand up to her own. For a second, it was as if they had been frozen, unable to even breath. After a few seconds, the silence was broken quite unexpectedly with the sound of Ginny's sadistic laughter.

She picked herself up off the ground in one swift movement and quickly regained her composure. "Finally," she said as she grabbed his chin and pressed his lips to her reddening cheek. He kissed her lightly before hanging his head in absolute disgust of himself. "I knew you where in there." She wrapped the blankets tightly around her as she walked across the room. He watched as she turned from in the doorway to blow him a kiss. "Get some sleep. You start work in the morning." She closed the door tightly behind her leaving him alone with his hatred in the dark.

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Chapter 4 Teaser

As he reached the streets, the embarrassment of what just happened hit him and he knew he couldn't return home this early. He had now failed Ginny for the second time in less then a day. He couldn't give her the love that she so desperately needed, and now he couldn't provide for her either.

Lyrics Bring me to life by Evenescance (if you haven't noticed this song is kinda the theme for this fic so if you haven't listened to it yet...you might want to try it out)


	4. An attempt at normalcy

CHAPTER FOUR AN ATTEMPT AT NORMALCY

He didn't even see her before leaving the next morning. He had spent the entire night cursing himself in the dark, and the last thing he wanted to do this morning was step outside. The early morning sun warmed his cheeks as he walked the crowded streets, and he closed his eyes as he brushed a hand over them, knowing that Ginny's would feel much the same. He had never raised his voice to her, let alone a hand. It was something he would never forgive himself for even if she did. She had seemed almost happy at his outburst, as if it had been her goal from the start. He almost pleasured as a new feeling swept hard over his body. Guilt. She did truly love him. He had known that from the start. For a fraction of a second, Harry felt an almost forgotten sensation. Hope. Hope that if she had awoken such a violent feeling of anger, maybe she could be the one to unlock his heart. But as quickly as it came, it had gone again. 'To love, honor, and to cherish, til death do you part'. He only had a month before saying "I do" and he was afraid that he really wouldn't. It might have been better for death to come soon before seeing that look in her eyes again.

His thoughts were preoccupied with her so deeply that he didn't realize where he was until he was looking at the door of Madam Pomfrey's office. Even as his hand knocked on the office door, he felt suddenly ashamed to be seen by anyone. He felt as if every pair of eyes that set upon him knew what he had done and was judge, jury, and executioner for his offense. His breath caught in his nose and didn't make it to his lungs. He reached into his pocket and fingered a small piece of toffee at the bottom. Pulling it out, he recognized it as Fred and Georges' greatest slackers invention ever. Without thinking, he popped it into his mouth. The door slowly opened of its own free will and a voice within beckoned him inside. Harry hadn't taken one step into the office when he heard Madam Pomfrey gasp in shock.

Harry had both hands up against his face to keep the blood from his nose from flowing freely onto the floor. Madam Pomfrey smirked knowingly and stood up, her wand at the ready. "It's been ages since I've seen a nose-bleed nougat. Those two." She laughed as she waved her wand in front of Harry's face, but nothing changed. Even though the blood kept flowing, Madam Pomfrey's smile widened. "So it's a first edition is it? They've certainly improved now-a-days. They must be doing really well for themselves." She was conjuring up a dark purple potion and handed it to Harry. "Took me ages to find the counter to that, but I'm not complaining, they do give me a lot of good business." His nose had dried up instantly and he vanished the phial into his palm.

"Harry, what's wrong? It's not that bad working here to risk bodily harm to get out of it? Didn't you get any sleep last night? You look like the living dead, dear. It doesn't help that you're covered in blood, now does it?" Her voice was dripping with concern as she drew up a cup of hot tea from mid- air. "My goodness Harry, I haven't seen a face that long in ages. Is everyone alright? There's not been trouble at home, has there?"

The last words stung deep into Harry's heart and made him feel nauseated. He couldn't tell her what he had done, she would probably fire him on the spot for abuse. Yet he knew that every second that passed in silence made him look more and more suspicious. His mind raced for an explanation for his tired look, but before he could think of anything, Madam Pomfrey was lifting him up out of his chair and hurrying him towards the door, the forgotten tea still pouring itself in mid-air.

"I can't have my aides so down when they work. Sloppy aides lead to deaths, Harry, and I just can't have you killing my patients on your first day. Now you get yourself home and don't come back here until you've had a decent night's sleep." She said loudly into the hall so that many of the people walking by craned their necks around to see who was getting chewed out. She leaned in close to Harry so that she could whisper into his ears. " Take care of yourself, dear, and let me know if there is anything I can do to help you two out." Harry whipped around to look her straight in the eyes, praying that he wouldn't see a look that told him she knew what he had done, but it was not there. "Weddings tend to take a toll on people, especially right before. Pace yourselves or you'll be a patient in the closed ward instead of a worker. Send me an owl if you feel up to coming on Monday. Take the weekend off and rest." She winked at him before shutting the door, leaving him dumbfounded in the hallway. He walked forward to knock on the door again to beg to be let to work today, but something kept his hand from making contact. He needed the money, and badly, but he couldn't stand to have everyone looking at him right now. It was even worse now that everyone thought he was in trouble with the boss on the first day of work and the feeling of panic began to freeze him up again. He couldn't be here. Not now. He bent his head low as he ran for the nearest exit. He felt the heat of all the eyes burrowing into the back of his head.

As he reached the streets, the embarrassment of what just happened hit him and he knew he couldn't return home this early. He had now failed Ginny for the second time in less then a day. He couldn't give her the love that she so desperately needed, and now he couldn't provide for her, either. He had never felt less like a man. He loved the fact that Ginny was such an intelligent woman and that she was so keen to support herself, but something in him still wanted to be the provider and protector. He needed to tell someone what he had done, someone that would see how horrible he felt and know what to do. He looked around the streets as if hoping that the one he was seeking would appear before him, but all of the faces he saw remained unfamiliar. His thoughts returned to the night before, and he knew exactly where he wanted to be right now. The two people whose advice he had wanted so desperately his entire life. He had to go talk to his parents.

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Chapter 5 Teaser

She looked up the hallway to the door at the end. Her hand slipped casually to her jean pocket and fingered the key that weighed so heavily next to her leg. She really had promised Harry that she would stay out of the room at the end of the hall, but hadn't he also promised to never hurt her? Well, one good turn really did deserve another, right? Besides, what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him.


	5. A Weasley Reunion

CHAPTER FIVE A WEASLEY REUNION

Harry had left earlier then Ginny expected that morning. She had been in the kitchen making some hot tea for them both when she had heard him cross the entryway and leave without a word. She was almost grateful, but knew that the longer they didn't talk about the night before, the harder it would be to start. There was already enough distance between them. They didn't need something like this widening the gap. She waved her hand to put away the empty saucer and cup that had marked his place at the table and they jumped back into their cupboard, unused. Her own cup stood cooling in front of her. She had a fleeting thought of what the tea leaves simmering at the bottom would reveal about her had she dared to read them after her drink. It was enough to make her think that she wasn't getting enough milk in her diet. She vanished the tea without even a sip missing and filled the cup with cold milk instead. The kitchen began to feel like a dank dungeon. She got up, gathered her milk and biscuits, and headed out to the warmth of the hallway. She hadn't made it far when she nearly tripped over a bundle of dirty clothes at the top of the kitchen stairs.

"Oh, sorry Miss Ginny Weezy. I didn't mean to be in your way. These stairs are getting awfully worn, so Dobby just wanted to give them a good scrubbing for his Harry Potter and Miss Weezy."

"Don't worry about it, Dobby. No harm, no foul. I haven't seen you in a few days, though. Have you been here?" When Hogwarts was destroyed in the final battles, the house elves had no where else to go. Kreacher had refused to be freed so they had given him a wing of the house with all of the left over Black family items to care for until he died. Dobby, even though he didn't live there, had popped in every now and then to do a little house work or visit Harry and Ginny. When the Ministry had repaired and reopened the school, it had become more of a place of worship then a school. Some of the house elves had returned to help the few remaining wizard families' children with meals, but it became too hard to maintain a good educational institution when the tourists where swarming it night and day. The actual school had to be moved to a new location and the building that had held Ginny and Harry's childhoods had now become a cold museum.

"No, Dobby's been to Hogwarts this week. They've made a great new exhibit and they needed Dobby's help with it." He drew himself up with pride at being needed for something outside of housework. "They found Harry Potter's old Nimbus 2000 and needed Dobby to remember what it looked like when it was broken by that nasty tree. They put up a great display of Harry Potter's school things. There's even rewards offered to get his books and robes. But Dobby didn't tell them that he had just washed them and put them in Harry Potter''s attic, so they won't find it. Dobby thought a lot about his Harry Potter and Miss Weezy this week. Thought they might need help this week. Lots to do when the winter is coming. Must get the house ready. Dobby will be taking a break soon. His Winky will be here soon to have dinner with Dobby."

"That's great. I think there's some leftovers from last night in the cupboard, so help yourselves, but let me know if you need something you don't see." Even though she thought he was adorable, she was just not in the mood to hold a conversation with Dobby right now and began walking up the stairs. Before she neared the top, however, she had an idea that actually made her jump a little with excitement.

"Dobby, do you think you could help me get the house straightened up before tomorrow night?" She asked.

"Of course, Dobby could do it. It's nearly done now. Kreacher won't let Dobby into Kreacher's room, so just the bed in Miss Weezy and Harry Potters room left." Dobby began to bounce on the balls of his feet, mimicking Ginny's excitement.

"Don't mind our bedroom, I'll take care of that. If you don't mind, I'll just need to have you run to the post office after I write a few letters. If you could send them out with express owl post, I'll have Hedwig take the nearest one, but I'll have four or five to go. We're gonna have some people over for the weekend. " Her smile spread as ideas of entertaining her closest friends and family in her home for the first time in years came to her. _She wouldn't have to be alone with him tonight._ The thought had come so suddenly and with such force that it actually startled her into grabbing the stair railing. That wasn't the reason that she was bringing people over was it? The night before flashed before her eyes and her cheek throbbed slightly. Was she really afraid of being alone with Harry now?

She looked up the hallway to the door at the end. Her hand slipped casually to her jean pocket and fingered the key that weighed so heavily next to her leg. She really had promised Harry that she would stay out of the room at the end of the hall, but hadn't he also promised to never hurt her? Well, one good turn really did deserve another right? Besides, what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. Before she had made a definite decision, her hand was on the doorknob and the key had clicked satisfyingly. It wasn't her fault that he had left the key in her possesion. She couldn't be blamed for his blind trust. She lost control of her foot and it kicked the door slightly, swinging it wide open. Well, as long as it was open, she had better make sure that the door hadn't knocked anything over. She stepped gingerly inside and closed the door behind her. If he came home suddenly, she couldn't give him reason to be more upset with her. _Wouldn't give him reason to hurt her again, was more like it._ These thoughts scared her and she had to tell someone that she was thinking them.

She walked inches into the room before tripping over a thick maroon sheet that covered an aging frame. As she looked up to see if she had caused any damage she looked into the worried face of a very wizened old wizard that she hadn't seen in years. She placed a hand to her mouth and let the tears begin to flow freely, but not in sadness, from joy. "Professor Dumbledore?"

He took her in from top to bottom from inside his painted realm. A faint smile crossed his lips before they cracked open to speak. "You know, all marriages start with a little trouble. A great man once said "This too shall pass." You're strong. We're all here for you, young Weasley. You know, more than any of us, that love is more than skin deep." He pointed knowingly with his eyes to the side of her face before smiling fully. "I know your parents will have better advice to give you. I believe they're over in that corner, along with your brothers. Perhaps you should tell them, instead of me. I'll always be here. I'm not going anywhere." He smiled as he pulled a bag of lemon drops from inside his robes and started sucking on two at a time. "Eternity does have it's benefits." He held up the bag and began to hum through his candy.

She smiled back at him, but knew that he considered the conversation over. She crept slowly to the back corner of the room and looked upon the sleeping faces of her two parents. She stood for several moments, not wanting to wake them before she heard a whisper from her right. "Ginny? That can't be you? You're..you have..."

"Boobs!" Bill and Charlie where gaping in awe at the maturity of their sister. "Fleur, look at this. Ginny's finally a woman." Bill pulled his wife from the corner of the frame to show off his little sister.

"So you've joined ze ranks of womanhood 'ave you? Welcome little sister. You should 'ave come to me before now though. I could 'ave 'elped you with zat 'air. Per'aps then you could avoid zat." She pointed to Ginny's cheek before smirking slyly and returning to her corner. Well, there was bound to be some setbacks to seeing her family, Ginny thought, mentally rolling her eyes.

Charlie's face dropped as he rounded on Ginny. "What is she talking about, Gin? Avoid what?"

"Mum, Dad, get up. Ginny's here and I think she has something to tell us." Bill looked down at her with a look of concern.

"Well, that can't be my little girl can it?" Mrs. Weasley rubbed her eyes in disbelief as she shook her husband awake. He rolled to the side with a grunt of annoyance at being woke up. "Arthur, for crying out loud." She smacked his head and he woke with a start.

"Well, here's a sight for sore eyes." He said through a stiffled yawn. "Haven't seen you in, what has it been, a year or so?"

"It's been six years, two months, and three days. Are you eating alright dear? Do you have a good home? Are you dressing warm enough?" It was as if Ginny was still the young child she had always been in their eyes. She was used to being babied as she was the youngest and only girl, but sometimes it was a little too much. This time, however, it had been sorely missed and she answered all of her mothers questions without even an ounce of irritation.

Suddenly, Molly's face dropped as she noticed Ginny's face. "My goodness, dear, what has happened to your eye? Did you have an accident? Some essence of murtlap will clear that up right away dear. Do you need the recipe?" She began to search her pockets as Ginny dropped slowly to her knees and cradled her face.

"I don't think et was an accident, was et Ginny dear?" Came Fleur's voice from just outside the frame. Bill stepped out of the frame to quiet Fleur.

"What is she on about, dear?" Now it was Arthur's turn to be concerned. They all sat in silence, waiting for Ginny to gain the courage to tell them what had brought her here.

"Well, it's sort of a girl thing, if you don't mind dad. I'd like to just talk to mum if I could. Just for now," she added as she saw the hurt look on his face, "I promise I won't leave without saying good-bye to all of you." He nodded as he stood up and stepped to the side, disappearing behind the frame. Ginny looked over fiercly to Charlie and he finally stepped to the side too.

Ginny noticed that her mothers eyes had begun to swell up with tears. "What's wrong, mum?" Ginny asked.

"It's just that I've missed our little girl-to-girl talks. I've missed you. But enough about me, dear, what can I do for you?"

"Well, I don't know how up to date you are, mum, but I'm engaged."

"Engaged?! Oh Ginny, how wonderful! Did you want me to help plan a wedding? I've got plenty of ideas. Do you have a pad and pen? Oh but look at me, I don't even know who the groom is. Anyone we know?" Her eyes twinkled with a hopeful spark.

"It's Harry, mum."

"I knew it! Oh I always hoped he would be a true member of the family. We owe so much to him, after all. Such a nice boy."

"Well, mum, before you go singing his praises I suppose you should know that he's not the same Harry Potter that every one used to know. He's changed. Ever since the war, he's been afraid to love anyone. That's why I've been away for so long. He keeps you all locked in a room in our house so that he doesn't have to face the fact that you're not here anymore. I promised I'd not come in here, and so I can't stay long, but I had to tell someone. He's different. I can't get him to even react to anything anymore. He's just hallow. Until last night. We were, well, um, we were lying in bed and...mum, he rejected me." Ginny heard several audible gasps from around the entire room and knew that more then one pair of ears was listening. "I lost control. I couldn't believe he would hurt me like that, so I tried to hurt him back. I told him he couldn't be upset about losing his parents when he didn't even know them and he, well, he got upset with me."

"Ginny, think about it. You'd get upset with someone if they told you you had no right to be upset about us, wouldn't you?" Molly said.

"Mum, he HIT me." Ginny screamed, no longer caring who heard.

Molly grabbed her mouth as Arthur stormed into frame. Bill and Charlie were fighting over who could get closer to Ginny and several other people shouted inaudible words around the room.

"Never did like that Potter boy. Knew he was nothing but trouble." Arthur said as he rolled his sleeves up his arm.

"Where is he Gin? He's got ten of my friends to answer too." Bill shouted.

"Not if he meets mine first, Bill."

"Boys, I'm sure Ginny doesn't want there to be any more violence. Now settle down. I'm sure there's an explanation for this. There's got to be a calm, non-violent way to figure out what caused Harry to act out like that. We know him better than that."

"I know him better than that." Came a voice from the shadow of the far side corner. "Ginny. I'm so sorry." Ginny didn't recognize the voice and so she stood up to cross the room. As she reached the corner she saw Harry's eyes looking back at her from a portrait of a beautiful woman who stood next to Harry himself. There was no mistaking who these two strangers were. For the first time in her life, Ginny laid eyes on her would-be in-laws. She had no idea that Harry had portraits of his parents. She only knew of the photo album that Hagrid had given him in his first year that was now sitting on the table next to her head.

"I wish that I knew you better, dear. You must be amazing to have earned the love of my boy. I don't know what's wrong with Harry, but we'll have a talk with him."

Her voice was genuine and Ginny couldn't help but instantly fall in love with her.

"But that's just it. He wouldn't have to miss you if he'd just talk with you. He won't even come in here on his own free will, let alone with me dragging him in here for a parental lecture, you know? I don't know what to do." Ginny felt her eyes swell up and for the second time the tears began to run.

"Don't cry, dear." Harry's father sounded so much like him that Ginny looked up expecting to see Harry standing there. "We'll talk to him, one way or another, whether he wants to or not. Perk up, sweetheart. It can only get better from here. Boys, we've got work to do." James stepped off to the side and for the first time Ginny noticed who was in the portraits next to the Potters. Harry's Godfather and mentor, Sirius and Professor Lupin, gave her a quick wink before stepping off towards where James had disappeared to.

Lily's eyes matched Ginny's and she had folded her arms under to keep them from wanting to reach out to comfort Ginny. "I wish that I could say that we taught him better then that, but I can't." She chocked up a little at these last words. "You better not stay a stranger, dear. I want to know my daughter-in-law. I didn't even know my own son was getting married." She was no longer able to get words out. She just smiled before turning to join her husband.

"Um, Mrs. Potter? Please don't tell Harry that I was in here. I don't want to make him more upset with me." Lily smiled through her tears and nodded in understanding. Ginny watched as the third portrait now emptied. She wiped her eyes on her sleeve before turning to return to her family. She could hear them arguing about the best way to dismember Harry when she returned to her position on the floor.

"Please dad, Bill, Charlie, don't work yourselves up about this. I just had to tell someone, but I still love him. I can take care of myself. He won't hurt me again. I just wanted a little family advice for the best way to handle this."

"I have three pieces of advice for you, my darling." Came Molly's struggling voice. "Keep your distance, take care of yourself first, and don't tell your brothers. Fred, George, and Ron have just as much love for you as Bill and Charlie and they aren't held back by a picture frame." She smiled brightly at her daughter as Ginny settled in to have a long waited, and well deserved, visit with her family.

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Chapter 6 Teaser

He cleared a spot on the leaf covered ground and sat down cross-legged, facing the two markers. For a few moments, he wasn't sure what to say. He just sat looking over the blank stones and wished he knew what they would say to him if they knew what their only son had become. Ginny was right. He didn't know them at all, and as he sat wondering what to say, he felt as if he was just introducing himself for the first time.


	6. A not so quiet grave

CHAPTER SIX A NOT SO QUIET GRAVE

Even as Harry thought of the woods near his fated place of birth, he felt himself being pulled there. The noisy streets of London where switched instead for the crisp mountain air and quiet solitude of Godrics Hollow. He looked over the hill at the small community, but that was not his destination. He turned on his heel to head deep into the nearby woods, out of the view of anyone who might have a pair of prying eyes. He heard the crackling leaves of the crisp fall day as they grasped to their branches for dear life, many of their brethren already victims of Harry's trainers. He made twists and turns, leading deeper into the trees which blocked out the rising morning heat. The wind that ran up Harry's pant legs began to numb his knees and he wished he was wearing something thicker then his worn jeans. The trail became unrecognizable, but the physical trail wasn't what Harry's feet were following.

He soon came upon a clearing where the sunlight beat down through a small gap as if to point out the two stones that marked the Potters' final resting place. The wind stilled and not even the birds seemed to want to sing. The weeds had grown crazy trying to strangle the life out of the already lifeless stones, and Harry began to pull off the thorny bushes promising himself that he would do better in the future to keep their tombs kept up. As the thorns ripped at his already sore hands, he thought about how thankful he was actually that they had such simple burial grounds. There where not many who knew their location and so he was promised solitude for as long as he wanted. Most other tombs from the war had become nothing more then religious tourist traps, with people lining up just to glance on them for miles and the chance for a private conversation with those entombed there was non existent. He had given up trying to visit Dumbledores' grave site as people traveled from miles around to touch the stone, believing that they would be able to gain his centuries of knowledge. They had never known him personally, probably never even gave his name more then a glance from their chocolate frog cards, but now that the war was over, it was as if they had been life long friends. His real friends, who needed his wisdom, would have to wait in line.

He cleared a spot on the leaf covered ground and sat down cross-legged facing the two markers. For a few moments, he wasn't sure what to say. He just sat looking over the blank stones and wished he knew what they would say to him if they knew what their only son had become. Ginny was right. He didn't know them at all, and as he sat wondering what to say, he felt as if he was just introducing himself for the first time.

He thought of all the times he had seen their faces, for the first time out of Dumbledores' mirror, from the spirits of Priori Incantatem, and the pictures that before now had resided on his bedside table, so full of love and pride for their child that they had barely known, and who had known them even less. He tried to picture what their faces would look like now if they heard what he had done. He strained to remember every detail of his fathers face and knew it would be hard and concerned. His mother might even have to stand up to pace the room to keep herself from screaming at him. He listened hard to hear their voices and know what advice they had for him in this desperate hour, but even the stillness of the clearing was so deep that ghosts could not be heard.

"Why did you leave me?" Harry's voice tore into the quiet and shredded it. " I need you!" He wasn't just talking to his parents. It was everyone. All of them. He felt like a child who had suddenly looked up in the store to realize he couldn't find his mother, but his had never been there. He had always been alone. Every now and then fate would be cruel and threw him a new parental figure to attach to, first Dumbledore, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, then Sirius, and Lupin, always just to toy with him and rip them away when he needed them the most. Fate was a cruel mistress and she decided long ago that Harry Potter was to be her bitch.

He wasn't sure how long he had sat there, but the breeze was coming in colder and he found himself pulling his knees up to his chest and rocking slowly back and forth. He couldn't get the words straight in his head and out to his tongue. He couldn't bring himself to disappoint them. He had to stand up to what every good son was supposed to be in the eyes of his parents. If they could be whatever he pictured, then they would be allowed to see him however they wanted to see him. He could remain a one year old boy who was worth dying for. He must have been great once. So many people had done whatever it took to keep him alive. And for what? So that he could bring down Voldemort? His parents had no idea that as their house was being raided that their infant son, asleep in the other room, would be able to do anything spectacular one day, so why was he worth dying for? When Dumbledore looked upon the face of an eleven year old boy with unkempt hair and unbuttoned robes, why had he decided that he was a stronger wizard than even he? Mr. and Mrs. Weasly had excepted an awkward twelve year old into their already bursting family tree without even a second thought and after several years of watching over him and caring for him as only a true parent could, they walked with their heads held high into battle for the sake of all their children, Harry included. Sirius came upon a young lad of thirteen, struggling to understand his new body and hormones, so why did even he feel it was best just two years later to fight to his death for his protection. Lupin had thrown himself in front of a young man of seventeen as curses flew from all sides to take the impact himself. He had been thrown back into Harry as Lucius' spell had hit him directly in the chest and as he lay, dead weight on top of Harry, he still even in death was shielding the Potter child. What had been so special about the seed of these two people that life after life would willingly throw themselves in front of danger for him. Why was he any different than any other baby born on any other day? Was it all just based on the prophecy that they all blindly followed? A drunken crazed gypsy spazzed out in a filthy low class bar and the entire world believed her to be a modern day prophet worthy of their faith and loyalty.

Harry turned to the sound of approaching footsteps from within the trees. He reached for his wand and pointed it towards the darkness. As if he was watching a photograph develop in front of him, a man appeared that made Harry clasp his chest to make sure he was still alive. He had stopped breathing but his heart still beat. Standing just feet from him was Sirius, his arms opening to embrace Harry. He couldn't get up off of the ground as his legs had gone numb, both from loss of blood and fear. If he thought it was hard to get words out before, now they were freely flowing, but the sounds didn't form coherent words. Sirius began to laugh at the bumbling idiot that so closely resembled his God son before turning and motioning into the trees to some unseen companion. Joining him from the trees came a much healthier Lupin then Harry had ever layed eyes on. He looked young and was smiling widely. Harry actually rubbed at his eyes as an older version of himself emerged from behind Sirius. The same messy hair, the same stupid glasses, the same crooked smirk. He was standing in the presence of his father close enough to actually touch him. His vision blurred and he knew that tears were beginning to form. For the first time in his life, Harry could look on all the faces of Moony, Prongs, and Padfoot at one time. The three greatest hero's in his life stood just out of reach of his fingertips.

James crossed the clearing without a sound and pulled Harry into a tight hug that buried his head into James' shoulder. They stood for several moments without speaking, neither knowing what to say. Finally James, pulling his sons face into his hands, broke the silence.

"Your mother wanted to come, Harry, but I thought you might benefit more from a man to man. Trust me, we won't be alone for long. She wants to talk to you badly, boy. I guess it's "man" though now, isn't it? Look at you, your a beampole! You look so familiar, but I hardly recognize you, son."

"How could you not recognize your own face, James?" Sirius remarked as he crossed over to more closely examine Harry. "Yeah, I think we can put a stop on the paternity test on this one. Lily was right. You do have a dick!" He plucked a chunk of mud off Harry's shoulder and threw it over his own towards James. Lupin chuckled from his corner before joining the group to lean on Lily's stone.

"Keep off my woman, Moony." James laughed as he rushed Lupin, knocking him onto the ground. James stood up, leaving Lupin laughing on the ground, and finished removing the rubbish from Lily's grave before sitting on top of his own. Harry tried to brush himself off to make himself look presentable, which proved impossible as he was covered in blood from his nosebleed, and then straightened up to his full height. It was as if he was trying to get initiated into a fraternity and had to prove himself a man now. He worried that they would not be impressed of the wreck that stood in front of their strong, smiling forms.

"So what's going on in your young life? There can't be much to get you into trouble anymore, can there?" Sirius smirked, but there was a spark of light in his eyes that said he knew Harry had found more ways to make trouble.

Harry looked over the faces he admired most, and was suddenly faced with reality. He had come to a cruel realization in his fifth year that his father wasn't the man he thought he was, and now his father would see the same horrible side of him. He thought, at least prayed, that they would remember that they had done some pretty bad things in their days as well. They were all staring at him now, arms across their chests, and Harry tried occlumancy to block them out. He had always expected that Lupin had been able to read his mind and he didn't want them to know anything before he could explain it. He wasn't sure if he had succeeded but he was slammed with images of Ginny kneeling on the floor, a wicked black bruise covering her normally white cheek, a look of despair on her face, but he was sure that it was nothing more then his guilty conscience playing tricks on him. He hoped that he hadn't just opened himself to allow them to see what he had just been forced to witness.

"I need help. I've done something that I'm really not proud of and now I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do. I don't know who to turn to."

"Harry, there is nothing you could say right now that would make us think any different of you." Lupin consoled. "We've come because we care about you. We want to help, but the first step is admitting you need the help."

"I...hit...Ginny."

"You did WHAT!?" Sirius screamed as he stood up.

Harry put his hands up in protection as he began to scream back at him with all of his force. "I would NEVER hurt her! I don't know what came over me. She was upset with me and she made a remark about how I didn't have a right to be upset about losing my parents because I had never known them." He noticed at this his father put his head into his hands and Harry noticed a slight shake. "I don't even remember doing it. It just happened, and now I'm not sure if she'll ever be able to forgive me." He began to shake and he couldn't bring himself to look up for fear of the disgust he would see there.

Sirius had turned so his back was now facing Harry, and James hadn't moved his head up from his hands. Finally James spoke, slightly muffled by his palms. "Harry. I don't know what to say. I feel as if I owe both you and Ginny an apology. I wish it didn't have to be this way, but she is a little right Harry." An incredulous look came across Harry's face, but James held up his hand to silence him. "Not that you can't be upset about not knowing us. It breaks my heart that we don't know you either, but you can't let it ruin your life. Many people have known you and loved you throughout your life, and now it sounds as if you have the love of a wonderful woman and you can't just throw that away for your mother and I. We are always going to be there in some form for you, watching over you, but she's right there with you. Loving you. You have to repay her for that. It's not easy to love a Potter. We've always seemed to attract trouble."

"No, James, you Potter's always were the trouble." Lupin spoke from his reclusive thoughts. "Harry, I knew you longer in the physical sense then either of these two, and I know your better then this. You've had hard times before, but you've overcome them. And way is that, Harry? Because you always embraced your friends and allowed them to help you. You let them be a big influence in your life and they just may have saved it, in more ways then one. So why not now? Let them in, Harry. Let her in. You can't be afraid of losing her, or anyone. If your afraid of letting someone in, just to save yourself pain, you'll be in this pain your in now for the rest of your life. That sounds pretty lonely to me. The war isn't over, Harry. The toughest battle is being fought right now. You don't have to do it alone."

"You've never done any of it alone, why now?" Sirius said. "Swallow your pride. Let your woman in."

"You know, I don't think I've ever heard a more moving sentiment, Sirius." Came a fourth voice from the shadows. A much more feminine voice. Lily, looking like a wood elf, appeared surrounded by a halo of light. She also crossed the clearing quickly to embrace her son tightly, but this time it was her head buried in Harry's shoulder. She moved back to look up at him. "That was because I love you." He was at least four inches taller then her, but it didn't stop her from smacking a hand upside the back of his head with such force that it knocked his glasses off onto the ground. "And that was because I love Ginny. And for you three," she turned to face the three other men who had stood to greet the presence of a woman, "why are you tormenting my poor boy. I know you mean well, but there was no need to put him through that. We're always watching over you, we saw, and believe me when I say that I'm not always proud of what I see, but I'm always proud of you. You have a good heart, I know you do, we just have to find a way in. Your father is right. Lupin is right. Sirius means well." She reached up and pinched his chin between her thumb and forefinger, "Ginny is right, and she loves you."

"I don't know what's wrong with me." Harry said in a near mono-tone as he was choking slowly on unsurfaced tears. "Ever since the war, since that final battle, as I watched my friends dying all around me, and me helpless to do anything to save them, I felt pieces of my soul die with every one of them. I have to wonder if I'm still even alive. Why I'm just a body that walks around because my cursed heart won't stop beating."

"I can answer that one. Your heart doesn't belong to you anymore. It won't stop beating, because Ginny won't let it stop. It's hers to control, and she won't let you just roll over." Lily looked over her shoulder at James and he walked forward to join his family. He placed his arms around Lily's waist and placed his chin on her head. "It is hard to love a Potter, but it's worth it." Lily smiled as she reached her head around to meet James lips for a soft kiss.

"Ginny knows it will be worth it, or she wouldn't still be there, son." James said. "Go to her. Tell her your trying. Let her help you. Most importantly, tell her you love her. Everyday. First thing in the morning, and last thing at bed, and a million times throughout the day. Don't worry about it just being words. It can't be. If you didn't love her, you wouldn't be here either. Go home to her and tell her you love her. She needs you to."

Harry looked around and noticed that Lupin and Sirius no longer sat where they had been and even his mum and dad seemed to be fading. "Please don't leave me," he pleaded "I can't do it alone."

"You'll never be alone. You'll always have us, but let her be your family. Please keep in touch, Harry. Keep us in your life. Let us know how the wedding goes. I want to see my grandchildren. We love you, Harry." Lily had tears in her eyes as she reached out to embrace him one last time. Harry closed his eyes, praying this hug could last forever, but when he opened them again, he was alone on the cold ground of the clearing staring at the two blank stones that were all he had left of his parents. He knew what he had to do now, but he had one task left before he could return home. He looked around for a sharp rock and when he found one that satisfied him, he began to carve their names so that any traveler that crossed the stones would know they were in the presence of two amazing people.

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Chapter 7 Teaser

It hadn't been twenty minutes time from when the letter had been pulled from Hedwigs leg to the time when Hermione had packed them both and was standing on the doorstep of number 12. Her breath caught in her throat at thoughts of what had once transpired behind these doors. It had been the meeting place of all of her friends and family once. People she had seen every day that she would never see again. She had tried to put all of that behind her but now she was facing it straight on. She looked over at Ron and smiled briefly before knocking on the door.


	7. A Reunion Of Friends

CHAPTER SEVEN A REUNION OF FRIENDS

The conversation between Hermione and Ginny was written by AlinaLotus from this site, who also happens to be my wife. It couldn't have been completed without her.

It was just after lunch when a snow white owl landed on the sill of Hermione and Ron's kitchen window. Hermione was sitting at the table, reading over the newest edition of the Daily Prophet as dishes washed themselves in the nearby sink. She was so engrossed in an article about people that were selling their souls on the black market, that she didn't hear the first couple of knocks on the window. Ron walked in, carrying a freshly made cup of hot coffee, and bent over to kiss Hermione good morning. He had just made it to her lips when he noticed a patch of white trying to pick the lock on their window. He was watching so intently that he didn't notice his coffee begin to spill out onto Hermione's lap. She had held up her hand to stop the brown liquid from scalding her lap and it was now pooling just inches above her paper.

"Honestly, Ron. Watch what you're doing." She waved her hand and the entire cup's contents vanished.

Ron pointed up to the window as a smile of recognition came over his face. "Been a while since I've seen that bird. Hermione, we've got a visitor." He stood up to cross the kitchen as she spun around in her chair. She grinned in anticipation of the news hanging from Hedwig's talon. It had been over a year since she had heard from Harry and Ginny, and she had begun to wonder if they had forgotten they even existed.

It hadn't been twenty minutes' time from when the letter had been pulled from Hedwig's leg to the time when Hermione had packed them both and was standing on the doorstep of number 12. Her breath caught in her throat at thoughts of what had once transpired behind these doors. It had been the meeting place of all of her friends and family once. People she had seen every day that she would never see again. She had tried to put all of that behind her, but now she was facing it straight on. She looked over at Ron and smiled briefly before knocking on the door.

They listened to the creaking of the trees before the clicking of locks coming undone overpowered them. The door slowly cracked open and a pair of green eyes peeked out around the corner, before it flung open and Ron was knocked back by a whirlwind of screams and hair. Both girls where screeching their greetings and commenting on each others hair and outfits. Ron could no longer see their faces, but he was sure that they had both gone mad. They pulled each other into a tight hug before walking hand and hand back into the house. Ron found himself deserted on the porch as the girls left him behind like he wasn't even standing there. He couldn't wait to talk with Harry. At least with him he knew that they could talk about something that would make sense.

Ron had barely stepped inside when he saw a look on Hermione's face that told him he had better get back outside as quick as possible. "I'll wait on the porch for Harry then, shall I?" He asked as he pulled the door back open.

"You'll do more than that, Ron. You'll keep that bastard out until I decide if he gets to come in again." Hermione nearly screamed as she slammed the door shut on him . She turned around to look at the shocked look on Ginny's face. Hermione hadn't noticed in the dark of the entryway, but now the bruise that covered Ginny's face looked like coal smeared on her pale cheek. "Is this why you asked us over, Gin? What did he do to you?" She had no reason to accuse Harry of something like this. He had never been an abusive or even a threatening entity, but she knew by the look on Ginny's face that it had indeed been Harry and that she feared he would do it again. She pulled her friend into a tight hug before leading her down into the kitchen.

Once seated at the long, scrubbed wooden table in the center of the basement kitchen, Hermione reached across the table top and enveloped Ginny's hand in her own. "I don't want to think the worst of Harry...I feel horrible for jumping to that conclusion, Gin. Tell me what happened."

Ginny heaved a deep sigh. She should have known there was no dissuading Hermione, and there was no possible way to talk or lie her way out of this corner. "If you want to know the truth, 'Mione, he...well, he hit me...it's a long story."

Hermione made a noise like an angry cat, her brown eyes narrowing. "I don't care if it's the fucking Never Ending Story, Ginny, I want to know why that asshole thinks he had the right to hurt you."

Ginny's eyes widened. She had never heard her friend swear, let alone call Harry an 'asshole'. "I guess you could say I kind of deserved it..." Ginny began, but Hermione pushed herself violently from the table, clicking her tongue.

"Is that what he told you? Is that what you think, that you deserve this?" She waited expectantly for Ginny's reply, tapping her foot lightly on the stone floor.

"No, Hermione...he actually feels pretty shitty about it. He wouldn't even face me this morning, before he left for his new job. He didn't tell me I deserved it, but I think I hit him pretty below the belt." Hermione eyed Ginny skeptically.

"Well?" She said, tapping her foot expectantly. _Some things never change..._ Ginny mused, almost laughing aloud at her friend's behavior. An entire war and six years had not changed Hermione's impatience in the slightest. "I...well, if you want to know the truth, I told him that he had no right to be upset about losing his parents." Ginny squeezed her eyes shut, expecting the same sort of blow- up from Hermione that she had gotten from Harry. Hermione, however, neither moved nor blinked for several moments, and Ginny opened her eyes to find Hermione's expression soft, and understanding.

"I'm so sorry, Gin...I know losing your parents seems a lot worse than Harry having lost his, because you spent your life with them, knew them, and they knew you. In a sense you're right, Harry has no right to go all emo because his parents have been gone for twenty-two years, but since when has Harry cared about what he has the right to do?"

Ginny sighed, and Hermione returned to the table. "That's not all of it...first, we're lying in bed and it's been like three weeks since he's even touched me, so I decided to check if he still even had a dick you know, so I rubbed up against him while he was asleep and started to breath heavy, but I couldn't even get him to wake up. By the time I was about to give up, I'd kinda worked myself up so I decide to just take care of myself and he finally comes to and rolls over to help, like I even need him now, and he gets me over the edge and then he totally rejects me. I mean seriously, he comes up with this bullshit that he doesn't want to 'use' me anymore, but it's not like he's had a problem in the past! But, it's more than that, it's like he's dead, lately. Well, not lately, since the war, actually. It's like he's hollow inside, almost as if the only thing that's keeping him alive is his heart beating, but damned if he doesn't try to stop that as well..."

Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Are you telling me he's tried to commit suicide?"

Ginny shook her head, tucking her ruby hair behind her ear. "No, it hasn't gotten that far yet, but he...well, he hurts himself a lot. A hairbrush to the knee, punching in a door, that sort of thing. It used to scare me, but now it's almost second nature for me to find a new bruise on him."

Hermione nodded, her brown eyes full of concern. "Have you tried talking to him about all this?" She asked, and Ginny rolled her eyes, smirking ironically.

"Use your eyes much?" The redhead asked, pointing to the large bruise on her cheek.

"Ah...I thought so." Hermione said, nodding.

Ginny sighed again, this time in exasperation. "If, in a year or so, you'd like to explain what you're on about, please feel free to. God 'Mione, some things about you just haven't changed." Hermione smiled.

"So Ron tells me every day...now, you say that Harry is almost dead inside, like there's nothing there but a beating heart, right?" Ginny rolled her eyes, but nodded. "Alright. Well, it seems to me the only time Harry shows emotion is when he's hurting something, whether it be himself or, well, you. Harry's anger is his biggest strength right now, it shows that he really isn't dead, that there's somebody in there, wanting to get out, they just don't know how."

Ginny began to smile. "You have a plan, don't you?" Her friend had always been the brains of the operation, from their first moments knowing each other up until their adult lives, and Ginny was fervently thankful to have somebody as clever as Hermione on her side.

"Of course I do," Hermione snapped. "Honestly, it hasn't been that long since we've seen each other, you should know that I always have a plan. But first, Gin, are you sure that you still love him? That he's worth what we're going to have to do?" At that moment the door creaked open and Hermione threw a flock of birds directly over her shoulder, smiling at the sudden slamming that meant she had hit her mark and kept Harry out of the house. "Of course, if you don't, we could just have him killed."

Ginny was taken aback. Of course she still loved Harry! Since she was but a girl, hearing Fred and George recount the defeat of Voldemort by a little boy, when she was ten, watching him through a train window...since that day when she had awoken from the Chamber of Secrets, seeing his sweaty, blood-streaked face swimming above her...and finally in her fifth year, when they were together, albeit briefly. Those were the happiest days of her life, and she had thought, rather naively it was true, that after the war things would go back to the way they were in those days, snogging by the Lake or cuddling on the couch in front of the warm, crackling fire of Gryffindor Tower. But things were different now...but were they? Didn't Ginny feel the same longing for Harry she had felt since hearing about him as a child? Didn't she still feel a tingling sensation that surged through her entire body when Harry touched her? Yes, she still loved him, for everything he was, and for everything she knew he could be. "He's worth everything to me, Hermione. I love him with my soul...I have to save him, to get the real Harry out of the dead Harry."

"Okay, Ginny. We need Draco Malfoy." Ginny laughed, shaking her head. Hermione and her far-fetched ideas....Hermione, however, looked reproachfully at Ginny from across the table.

"I'm serious, Gin! Look, you want Harry to feel something, anything, right?" Ginny nodded. "Well then, why not start with the emotions that are easiest to tap into, and are the strongest?"

Ginny nodded again. "Alright, that makes sense, I suppose...but what does Draco have to do with all of that?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Honestly Ginny, how you managed nine NEWTs is beyond me...who is the one person that Harry has, since day one, hated with a burning passion?"

"Alright, alright, Draco, yeah, but Draco's on our side now...he helped with the war, he killed his own father, for God's sake, and Harry has admitted that he isn't the person he used to be."

Hermione grinned. "That's true, but you don't think the old Draco just evaporated into thin air, do you? Draco is still the arrogant, pompous asshole he's always been. It's time, I think, to invite our Mr. Malfoy over for a little reunion. If anybody can get anger, and hate and jealousy out of Harry, I think Draco is our best bet."

Ginny bit her lip. "Jealous? Jealous how, Hermione?"

Hermione's grin never faded. "You know bloody well how, Ginny Weasley...Harry may not know it, but I know you and Draco had a thing at school, and I doubt he'd protest at once again rekindling that old flame, even if it is all for show."

Ginny wrung the ends of her long hair in her hands. "And you think that Harry would be jealous of Draco?"

Hermione nodded in a satisfied way. "Absolutely. Gin, I know you don't feel like it, but you do mean something to Harry...I know him better than anybody on this planet, even Ron, and he loves you, he just needs to realize it."

"It's not just that, Hermione...I think I'm afraid of him." Ginny said, still playing nervously with her hair. Hermione's jaw dropped a bit, but she recovered quickly.

"I don't think I blame you. If Ron ever hit me..." Hermione trailed off, deciding that words weren't enough. She stood from the table and walked around to Ginny, putting her arms around her best friend. "I promise this will all go away soon. Everything will be better...let's start some planning and I'll drop a letter off to Mr. Malfoy telling him our plans." She waved her wand and the vase in the entryway picked itself up and burst against the wall before repairing itself. "That will at least keep those boys at bay until we're quiet ready to let them in. If we decide to let them in, eh?"

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The night was turning crisp as the witching hour came upon the deserted streets of Grimauld place. A faint popping noise filled the square as a dark shadow emerged from the fog. As Harry rounded the corner he noticed another dark shadow, the face softly lit by the smoldering glow of a burning cigarette, standing on the porch to number 12. He reached for his back pocket where his wand was concealed behind his jacket. Even though they were supposedly in peace times, nothing unseated Harry like an unexpected visitor, especially one that knew where his house was hidden. He crept slowly up to the steps.

"Who are you and what is your business?" Harry asked threateningly, his wand held chest high. He placed one foot on the bottom step and looked up at the would be intruder.

"Probly a good idea to keep that out, mate." Came a voice Harry hadn't heard in almost a year. Harry lit the tip of his wand and filled the steps with light, revealing Ron as he crushed out his butt and pulled a new pack of cigarettes out, smacking them against his leg as he reached out with his hand to welcome Harry home. "She's in a right state and you might just need the protection." Ron smiled as he pulled Harry into a quick but firm hug. Even though he hadn't spoken with Ron in so long, Harry knew their friendship hadn't changed. He couldn't wait to catch up with him, but he had things that had to be said to Ginny while they were still fresh in his mind and so he politely pushed Ron aside.

"I wouldn't go in there if I was you." Ron chuckled.

"I know she's mad, but I have to talk to her. Now." Harry began to push open the door, but it barely had creaked when a flock of birds crashed inches from his head into the door frame, and he was forced to slam it shut to save his head.

"So Hermione's here, is she?"

"I warned you mate. Those two have been at it for hours. I think I made it ten seconds before I was thrown out. You know how it is. One of us messes up so all of dick-kind now must die." Ron knocked the ashes off the tip of his cigarette before holding it up in offering to Harry. Harry put up his hand to decline, and Ron shrugged. "I don't blame you. I wouldn't be so addicted if I didn't spend so much time outside of doors on porches. I've had a lot of birds thrown at me in my time."

Harry was waiting for Ron to jump the stairs and beat the living shit out of him for touching his sister, but the longer they stood there, the less likely it seemed to come. He wondered if Ron was just trying to get him to confess to it, but not once in their conversations did he feel like he was leading him to that. He looked down to his feet and noticed that they were covered in mud and blood. As he trailed up his body, he saw the grass stains blending in with the blood stains and began to question Ron's eyesight. He looked as if he had just murdered and buried three people and yet Ron was making comments on the difference in weather in London. He tried to kick off some of the mud as he knew Ginny would kill him herself if he came into her house like that, but it was dried on thickly. He let his wand hang from the tips of his fingers as he slowly tried to clean off his shoes non-verbally, without drawing too much attention to himself. It seemed to be a wasted effort as Ron was now rambling about the Chudley Cannons as if they were sipping a nice brandy inside by the fire. Occasionally he heard an angry voice from inside the house, or a crash that meant it was still not safe to enter. The night was getting cold and he began to wonder how long before the sun would rise. It seemed like hours had passed since he arrived on the steps.

His mind wandered away from Rons steady drone, and he began to watch the embers falling off the tip of his fourth cigarette. He watched as each one fell silently to the floor, glowing with such fury and passion and then succumbing to the filth of the steps. They came so softly and graceful, floating like fireflies on the back of the wind. Harry knew that one alone could do nothing but flicker and die when it met the greater force of the wind, but if they had joined together, they had the power to destroy the very home they stood in front of. He closed his eyes and saw all of the falling embers turn into his fallen comrades, falling one after the other onto the ground before curling up and fading away. Each body so weak separately that had at one time been such a strong force they had brought about the fall of the most powerful empire this world had seen since World War II. He wondered how many of the flames were wasted, burning out before they met with another. How many lives had been needlessly cut short in the hopes that they would be a contributor to the devastating flame?

Harry's eyes snapped open as he heard the door open forcefully. Both men lept back off the porch and unconciously ducked, before breathing a sigh of relief at the soft look on Ginny's face. She ushered them silently into the house. As Harry passed her and into the entryway, she immediately held up a hand before he had even a second to speak. "Not now, Harry. Anything you might have to say to me is gonna have to wait, I just don't want to hear it now. You better not try to even see Hermione right now either." Her face quickly changed to concern as she took in his apperance. "Harry? Is that blood?"

"Oh this. It's not mine. It's Fred and Georges."

Her eyes widened in a horrified stare. Could he have gone even more insane? What did he have against her brothers? Was he just trying to rid the world of Weasleys?

He saw the look on her face and realized how his words had sounded. "No. I mean, it's their nose-bleed nougats. I found one in my pocket earlier at work. I ate it to...well, I was hungry and I didn't realize what it was until I was bleeding."

She changed just as quickly as before, even more harsh now that she had been given reason to doubt his sanity. "I'll be sleeping in with Hermione, Ron's taking the sofa. We have more company coming today so you better get some sleep." With that she turned on her heel and her red hair wipped out of site behind the closed kitchen door.

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Chapter 8 Teaser

"LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO ME!" Ginny screamed as the light glinted from the bloody razor held tightly in her right hand.


	8. Harry's Worst Nightmare

CHAPTER EIGHT HARRY'S WORST NIGHTMARE

**This chapter contains extremely graphic self-mutilation. You have been warned.** **There is also a scene of assult at the end of this chapter. **

If the day had been long, the night was longer. With Ginny gone the bed seemed uninviting. He often rolled over, expecting to find her there, only to be disappointed. He didn't even remember falling asleep but shortly he would be praying that it was nothing more then a dream.

"Ginny? Are you here?" Harry called out into the dark pitch of the hallways as he wandered the house looking for his love. He turned the corner and believed he had seen her but realized suddenly that it was just the dismembered head of a house elf, long since past. As his thoughts wondered if it was a fruitless venture he rounded a corner towards the one room he couldn't imagine her being in. But there was the proof, a single sliver of silvery light crept across the neglected carpets and hit Harry's shoes as if lighting the path for him to walk. His mind raced immediatly to rage as he realized it was the only place she could be and should have the respect to _NEVER_ be. Not in Sirius's bedroom. She knew how he felt about anyone disturbing the dust of the ghosts in that room. It was not right, and she had known and respected how he felt about it.

He marched up to the door, ready to fling it open and demand an explination for her disrespect, when he caught a glimpse of something shimmering in the light under the door. A very distinct red seeping into the carpet in front of the doorway made his heart jump into his throat. He had seen too much of that cursed liquid to fill a life time. He stopped breathing as he slightly pushed on the door to reveal a sight that nearly killed him instantly.

"LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO ME!" Ginny screamed as the light glinted from the bloody razor held tightly in her right hand. Her left wrist weeping blood into pools at her feet. The tendons were exposed and a chunk of pink stained bone was sticking out of her shredded tissue. Ginny crossed the room in one swift motion and grabbed Harry by the forearm tightly, pooling blood into his open palm. She stumbled to the floor, pulling him down until he was kneeling in her lifestream. There she knelt on his arm, pinning his wrist, palm up.

"All I wanted was for you to feel something for me. Damn it Potter, I LOVED you. I needed you to love me. And you couldn't feel a thing for me. Well, tell me fucker, can you feel THIS?" She swiped suddenly down and hard across his wrist tearing the flesh apart as the razor drank of his blood. He screamed out in pain...no, fear....perhaps both, until he realized that his voice was coming out weaker. His vision blurred as his limp body hit the floor next to the seizing body of his love. The last sight he had was of her eyes as they sunk into her cold grey form, a look of pure loathing fixed directly into his own.

He sat bolt upright in bed, drenched in blood, no it was only sweat, and began screaming. Down the hall, Ginny jumped clear off the bed and grabbed her wand off the side table. He jumped off the bed and ran directly to the door, fumbling with the door knob. The sweat from his hands made it impossible to get a proper grip on the knob. He screamed again in frustration as he flung his arm back and balled his aching hand into a fist. He felt the light touch of someones fingertips brush his fist and heard his name screamed out as he swung forward into the wall. The bones in the center of his hand buckled under the sudden pressure and his wrist bent too far down. He felt the tendons pull and the skin on his knuckles rip open. He collapsed into a ball in the corner, afraid to look Ginny in the eyes in case they showed that same look of disdain. As Ginny watched, the man that she loved screamed out tears of pain, humiliation, and defeat into his swelling hands underneath the blood filled dent in the wall.

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It was mid-afternoon when Harry finally decided to join the voices downstairs. He hadn't dared to sleep after that, and Ginny had gone down hours ago to prepare for her company. He rubbed his eyes warily as he replaced his glasses to see the stairs that he was walking down. Many people had gathered in the kitchen and their voices flowed cheerily through the halls. The house seemed warmer and lighter than Harry had remembered it being in years. The smell of steak and potatoes filled Harry's nose and the night before was lost in the trecele tart steaming from the kitchen for just a moment. As Harry was guided by unseen hands into the kitchen, he came upon the one face that could make him question if he was having another nightmare.

"Sleep well, fuck face?" Came a drawl from under a mop of platinum blonde. Draco Malfoy was sitting at Harry's table, sitting between Ginny and Hermione with his feet up on the fourth chair, swigging a bottle of warmed butterbeer. "Seems no one around here slept well last night," he said as he took another drink before slamming the bottle down on the table and standing to tower over Harry. "They tell me that someone had a pure shit-fit at two in the morning. What's the matter, Potter? Dementors find you again?" He sneered as he loomed over him. He had grown even since school and was easily four inches taller.

"What are you doing here?" Harry looked around to Ginny for an answer. "What is he doing here?"

"Now, now, Potter. I've been given a formal invitation to this little school reunion." He held up a letter that had obviously been carried by an owl. "Your lovely girlfriend here..."

"She's my fiancee, Malfoy." Ginny looked over Draco's shoulder to see Harry's face, hoping that there would be a flicker of jealously there, but what she did see both alarmed and confused her. There was no jealousy in those eyes, but a glimmer of something she wasn't sure that she saw and she thought she would have to wait much longer to see.

"Really?" Draco looked back over at Ginny as well. He picked up an apple from off the table. "Not bad, Potter. At least now we know you're not gay." He smiled wickedly as he took a bite of the apple before walking out of the kitchen.

Harry looked incredulously around the table, taking in the faces of Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, seeking for an answer as to what the fuck was going on. "Malfoy. What is Malfoy doing here?"

Ginny stood up and crossed the room towards Harry. "I told you we where having some friends from school over." She said as she took his hand in hers to examine the damage. She looked up into his eyes with a look of grimace on her face from the deep black bruise that covered his knuckles. "Do you need some help to take care of this?" She asked more queitly as to not draw attention to it.

Harry tried to not pull away as a sharp pain shot up his arm at her slight touch. He looked down into her eyes and burrowed straight through them into her soul, searching for more of an answer to his question. "Ginny, what is he doing here?" This time he asked with more concern then anger and she found his tone impossible to resist.

"I invited him over, Harry. Not many people are left from school. I got in touch with Fred and George and they've just replied that they'll be here this evening. Luna Lovegood, you remember her, she's coming in tonight as well. Ron and Hermione are here of course, but that's the last of them. I couldn't even get through to Neville Longbottom, Seamus has joined his mother working with the wizard embassy over in Ireland and he can't make it out, Dean is busy at St. Mungo's where he says they can't wait for you to start." With this last bit she gave him a look of questioning as she had seen him leave for work just yesterday. He couldn't meet her eyes and looked down at the floor at this remark. "So I thought, just to fill the house, I would send owls out to anyone that we knew and see who responded. He may not have been a friend then, Harry, but he did help us in the final battles and he's shown up now. He must want to be friends now, right?"

Harry looked at Ginny and questioned her sanity. Malfoy. Draco Malfoy a friend? True, he had helped out tremendously with the final battle. _Is it true?_ Harry scanned his mind for whatever Draco had done that was such a help, and was hit with a blinding flash of green light. His head began to sear with pain and he grabbed at his scar, something he hadn't been forced to do for years.

"Harry?" He heard three sets of voices call out for him, but he couldn't focus on any of their faces. The next thing he knew he was looking up at Ginny from the floor, her head surrounded by screams and burning flames as structures failed all around them. He blinked again harder and she was holding his head in her hands, gently rubbing the sides of his head.

"God, Potter. Just pass out at the drop of a hat anymore, do you? Good thing our lives don't depend on you anymore, huh?" Malfoy had returned to the kitchen and Harry must have been out for quite a bit, as Luna was now taking in the scene from over by the table as well.

"I've heard of this," Luna's whispered voice came from the corner "the muggles call it "post-traumatic stress disorder". I think the pressure has finally gotten to you, Harry."

"What pressure?" Ron laughed. "There's nothing to even worry about anymore, mate. Battling Ginny can't be nearly as tough as Vol- Damn. Well, You- Know -Who anyways. Even though she is pretty scary."

Ginny threw a look of disgust at her brother. "This happens a lot, Ron, and for your information it has nothing to do with me."

"And honestly Ronald, it's been six years. You should at least be able to say 'Voldemort' without choking on your tongue." Hermione scolded.

"Like Harry's ever been right on anyway. I think that the battles just finished off an already feeble structure. Perhaps it's time to send Harry away. I hear they have great straight jackets in the closed ward at St. Mungo's." Draco began to laugh and Harry was not terribly surprised to hear a few other chuckles join him. He was suddenly embarrassed and wanted nothing more then to get up the stairs back to the dark of his room. Ginny saw this in his face and immediatly intervened.

"Draco, that's enough. Why don't you come help me carry in the trays to the dinning room. Luna, if you could go see if Fred and Geoge have arrived. Harry, get yourself a cup of tea and fix me one while you're at it." She gave Draco a sharp look that conveyed that he was supposed to follow her and a second, just as sharp look, to Harry that told him to not dare and come after them. He had no intention of following them into the other room, as this now gave him some alone time with Ron and Hermione.

He pulled himself up onto the bench and looked around at his two closest friends, trying to make eye contact. Hermione looked firmly at Harry before turning away to face the other wall. "Hermione, I need to talk to you. You don't have to listen, but there are two sides to this story." Hermione was unmoved and she began to stand to join Ginny and Draco in the dinning room. "Please, Hermione. Just hear me out and then you can decide if you're going to condemn me. I have to tell someone what happened last night, and I'm...scared." He noticed a bit of a twitch, but she still wouldn't look over the table at him.

"What is it, mate?" Ron asked, and Harry looked up into his friends eyes knowing that it might be the last time he saw concern in them.

"I had a nightmare about Ginny last night." Harry started.

"That she left you? I don't think it was just a dream, Harry. I think it was prophecy." Hermione said coldly.

"Why would she leave you, Harry? I'm sure that you two can work this out, whatever it is." The words stung Harry as he realized that Ron still hadn't caught on.

"You could say that she left me. In my dream, I had to watch Ginny slit her own wrists and bleed to death over me. I saw her spirit leave her body, because I couldn't love her. Then she slit my wrists so that I would feel something for her, even if it was only pain. I'm scared, Hermione. What if it really is prophecy. Like the last time. What if her thoughts are getting into my mind and this is something she really wants to do? What if I'm killing her? I know it can't be easy, but I never thought it was this bad. She won't talk to me."

"No Harry, she CAN'T talk to you." Hermione had finally turned to look into Harry's eyes. Her face was softer then it had been previously and she looked almost nauseated at the hatred that she had been holding onto for him. "She's afraid to talk to you. Look what it got her last time."

Harry grimaced at this remark. "You know I would never hurt her. Not on purpose. You know that right?" He looked around at the two and saw that while Hermione's face had changed to concern, Ron was quickly beginning to catch on. He was grinding his knuckles into his hands and Harry saw a definite spark in his eyes.

"What did you do to my little sister, Harry?" Ron said as he closed the gap between the two. Harry stood up to prepare himself for the inevitable, and realized how much taller everyone else seemed to be today. He pulled himself up to his full height, still dwarfed by Ron's gangly form, and looked him square in the face.

"Ron, two nights ago your sister and I had a bit of a fight. I lost control and I..."

Harry barely saw the pieces fall together in Ron's eyes before Harry felt Ron's fist crack into the side of his head. The kitchen blinked in and out of focus as blow after blow came down on his head. He never once put up a defensive hand or hit back, he just lay on the floor accepting his dues. Ron's fists, becoming tired, gave way to his shoes, and Harry felt a rib crack as his side was kicked in repeatedly.

Hermione sat stunned at the table for nearly five minutes watching the brutel display of testosterone going on before her. Ron's shirt was splatered with blood from both Harry and himself and there didn't seem to be any hesitance in throwing another punch. She felt guilty as part of her mind told her that Harry was only getting what he deserved. She noticed that Harry, while he had never put up any kind of fight, was barely breathing any more under the weight of Ron's trainers. She couldn't just let Ron kill him, could she? Wouldn't that be what was best for Ginny? She thought over the conversation she had with Ginny and the love she still saw deep in those eyes, and the fear she had seen as Harry told her of watching what he had brought Ginny to do and she was suddenly motivated to put a stop to this. She had barely stood, yelling to Ron trying to get him to calm, when the noise of Ron hitting Harry's head against the stone floor brought everyone from their previous duties. Ginny and Draco crossed into the room and Fred, George, and Luna filled the doorway, all with shocked expressions. Screams of "Ron stop!" filled the air in all different tones. Fred and George rushed in and grabbed Ron physically up off of a shaking Harry.

"Let me go. I'll fucking kill him. That bastered. She trusted you. We all trusted you. You'll die." Ron screamed any sentence fragment that could get past his pursed lips and gritted teeth.

"Ron, what have you done?" Ginny screamed as she grabbed a chunk of her hair into her hands.

"Harry told Ron, well, started to tell Ron about what he did to you and Ron just lost it." Hermione said through tears.

Fred and George turned in unison, still holding onto Ron as he struggled to get back at Harry. "What did he do to you Gin?" Came their voices in stereo.

"That mother fucking pussy hit her. He fucking beat up our little sister." Ron was in hysterics now and was shortly joined by two others as now three sets of fists pounded into the bleeding lump that resembled Harry.

"Immobulous." The three froze as Draco, who had gotten to his wand quickest, aimed it directly into the center of the carnage. "Leave them like that until they calm down. Don't let them leave this kitchen until they promise not to murder Potter. Ginny," He waved his wand and Harry levitated limp bodied in the air, "show me where your room is. I think he'll need some medical attention. Luna, mix up some essance of murtlap and Granger help her with a blood-restoration potion." Everyone stood frozen as if they had all been hit by Draco's spell, wondering what had made him care all of a sudden. "You know, if you don't move there will be more than one way to kill Potter. Go!"

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Chapter 9 Teaser

"Well, after seeing what Ron's done, I think that he might have been punished enough." Ginny dropped her voice, hoping that Harry's coma was so deep that he wouldn't hear that she had treasoned against him.

"This? You think this is enough? Well I might say that it's punishment for what he did to you. An eye for an eye, eh? But I didn't think that you where out to punish him. I thought your whole plan was purely to redeem him."


	9. Secret wounds

CHAPTER NINE SECRET WOUNDS

Draco burst through the door to Ginny and Harry's bedroom and noticed that for a wedding bound couple, a certain scent was not even remotely present. He smirked to himself as he let Ginny cross in front of him so she could remove the blankets from the bed, leaving only the crisp white linen underneath. Draco set Harry's limp body down, perhaps a little harder then necessary, and within moments the sheets where seeping with deep maroon.

"Oh my God, Draco. Where is all of this blood coming from?" Ginny was frantic trying to find and close up every crack and tear along Harry's form. It seemed every time she found one, two more sprung open to let the blood continue flowing.

"Don't bother with the little ones, you'll have to get his clothes off to find all of them as I'm sure something has been ripped clean off, but that's something you'll have to do when I'm not here. There is nothing I find more revolting then the thought of Potter naked. Besides, it's the side of his head that's the worst of it. It looks as if a scar has ripped open down the side." He looked up to see if there was any recognition in her eyes for that scar, but she was too panicked to think logically right now.

Hermione barged in carrying two smoking potions and an arm full of ripped linen and pushed her way in to become Harry's chief physician. "He'll need one an hour of the blood potion until he comes too, and these bandages will only help if they're not deep. We may have to take him to St. Mungo's. For God's sake, were you two just going to let his brains fall out. You should have closed this one first off." Hermione began shouting orders and making the repairs as Ginny and Draco became her bedside tables. She took out her wand and touched it to the side of Harry's head and the bleeding ceased immediately. "Now maybe he'll have a chance. Here Ginny, I've got three more with open cuts down in the kitchen, do you think you can handle this one?" She looked over at the raised eyebrows on her friends forehead. "Well, I thought you could, I just wanted to help. I'll just be downstairs." She began to back out of the room quickly as Ginny covered Harry's legs with a blanket and removed his shirt.

"He better still have pants on," came Draco's disgusted drawl from in the darkness. With the door shut now, Ginny realized they hadn't even turned on the lights and flicked on a few nearby candles to illuminate the ghastly scene. Harry looked even paler by comparison when surrounded by the crimson sheets. Ginny pointed consecutivly at each of the purpling patches on Harry's chest, looking over the many gashes and bruises that mangled his greying frame.

"Hey while we're at it," Draco looked up and lifted Ginny's chin with his wand, "want me to get that one too?" He tapped against her cheek and gave a knowing nod as she looked sneakily down at the bedding. "I'd leave it too, if I were you. The plan will go much smoother if he's reminded every day why we're making him suffer, right?"

"No, that's not the reason....I mean it was to begin with but....well don't you think maybe he's suffered enough?" She pointed at his unconscious body as she tried for a second time to repair the obvious break in his rib.

Draco moved her hand and took one swipe as the bone snapped loudly back into place. "I think that ought to do it, eh? Anything else you see?"

Ginny looked closely over Harry's body for anything that they might have missed and came across the yellowing bruise that so closely matched her own on the back of his left hand and the purple lump that used to be his right knuckles. Draco noticed her hesitation and passed a wand over the purple, clearing it up before moving over the other to darken it to a puke green. "He doesn't need anymore reminding of his own stupidity, but I'd hate to think he could leave the house and not still have to look at that mistake."

Ginny rubbed lightly on Harry's chest and felt that his breathing had indeed evened out and was coming easier. "I don't know if I want to go through with this anymore, Draco. I mean, it sounded like a good idea when it came out of Hermione's mouth..."

"Yeah, anything that comes from Granger's mouth normally sounds like a good thing at the time, right?" Draco smirked.

"Well, after seeing what Ron's done, I think that he might have been punished enough." Ginny dropped her voice, hoping that Harry's coma was so deep that he wouldn't hear that she had treasoned against him.

"This? You think this is enough? Well I might say that it's punishment for what he did to you. An eye for an eye, eh? But I didn't think that you were out to punish him. I thought your whole plan was purely to redeem him."

Ginny looked up into Draco's face and for one of those rare moments, she saw understanding and compassion. He seemed to be much more mature than his years since the war. She saw in him someone that was in her position. Who had lost everything, including the ones that they loved, and now was forced to live alone. "I didn't watch you and Hermione nearly kill yourselves over saving his life just to have him repay you like this. He owes you a life debt, Ginny, and one way or another he is going to have to pay it back." Ginny looked up confused at this remark. "If I have to be the collector for his debt I will. I don't mind. In fact, did you see his face when he walked through the door and saw me sitting between you two. I live for moments like that. This is the happiest I've been in years, knowing that I'm gonna get paid to torment Potter, something I'd happily do for free. If you don't do this for him, then at least don't take that pleasure from me. It'll be fun to watch, even if Granger's plan doesn't work out. I don't understand it anyways. She seems to forget that love is the strongest, and should be his first, not his last, but hey...she married Ron didn't she? Maybe she doesn't know about true love."

"Ron and Hermione love each other." Ginny was insulted that someone could think otherwise.

"Oh yeah, sure they do. You have been out of the loop haven't you." He pointed at his nose tip with his wand in a know it all manner. "Married couples track a lot of dirt and Ron always has been a very loud whiner." Ginny looked at him questioningly, but saw that he didn't think now was exactly sewing circle gossip time.

Harry stirred warily in his sleep. "Well, I'm going down to see if Hermione needs any help repairing the kitchen floor. You might want to see if his wedding tackles are still attached. There must be _some_ reason you want to marry him, but I don't need to know, thanks." Draco stood to cross the floor. "Don't stay up here long. If he makes it through the night, he'll be fine." She turned quickly to look over him to make sure that he was still breathing. "He'll be fine, Ginny. Come down soon."

Out in the hallway, Draco heard the raised voice of a wild Granger as she tore into anyone within a twelve mile radius. "You could have KILLED him, Ronald. And YOU TWO! Fighting at your age. Your supposed to be the reasoning older brothers." Her voice only got sharper as he entered the kitchen to the scene of two woman beating the life out of the potatoes on the stove as three men cowered at the tables.

"Fighting is so primitive. There are so many other ways to come to an understanding with people. Why do men have to act like Snockback-Ridgehumps? I've read that when they become threatened by others they just simply wait until the threatening party falls asleep and then they suck their brains out through any hole that they can get too." Luna stated matter of factly as she tenderized the steaks.

All five present turned to stare at Luna as if waiting for her head to spin around. "Anyways...I swear that if I have to send Howlers to both of your wives Fred and George, I won't be the last woman to chastise you for this. And Ron, Harry is your best friend! No understanding? No talking it out? You just jump to the conclusion that he enjoyed what he's done and feel like murdering him?"

"I did it for Ginny, Hermione, and I'd do it again." Ron regreted opening his mouth almost at once.

"FOR GINNY?! You think what she wanted most when she invited you over here today was for you to KILL her fiancee? Why do you think she didn't tell you first off? It took you long enough to even notice that she was hurt, and now you want to act all noble like you're the worlds greatest brother? What is wrong with you men? You think that woman can't fight their own battles? That the only way to teach someone is by force? Just get out of here. I can't look at you right now." Hermione was herself crossing to leave the kitchen when she was inadvertently blocked off by Draco. "Move, Malfoy."

"Now, Granger. I only came here to help. Is that any way to treat a guest?" He side stepped and let her cross haughtily from the room, slamming the door just inches from Draco's back. The kitchen rang with silence as even Luna had stopped to watch Hermione's exit. Fred and George picked at the splinters coming off the aging table as Ron pounded heavily against his chair with his fist. Draco took in the sight and couldn't help but be reminded of three children who had just been scolded by their mothers. "Harry will be fine. Unfortunatly. If your going to kill a man, you might want to take out your wands as even all three of you seem to be a little weak in the fisticuffs department." Ron shuddered at this and picked at a piece of lint that had landed on his chair.

"See, I told you that you couldn't kill him Ron."

"Yeah, great Luna." Ron's voice was thick, like he had swallowed an entire vat of molasses. "Where's Ginny?"

"She's upstairs. She'll be down shortly. Perhaps you should think of a better excuse for the mess you made upstairs before she gets down here." Draco turned and walked quickly out the door to catch up with Hermione as she topped the stairs. "Granger," he called and she turned to glare at him, "get your bushy head down here." He held open the front door and waved his hand as if to usher her out.

"How dare you talk to me like that, and it's Weasley now. Of course it's always been Hermione if it's too difficult for you to admit that I'm married now." She practically flew off the staircase, but obliged to meet him out on the porch. "What is it, Draco? I have things to get to..." she began but was caught off guard as a look of fear crossed over his normally stone face.

"She doesn't know." He said matter of factly as she should know exactly who and what he meant. "You never told her about what happened to..."

"No. I thought we agreed that it wasn't necessary. He's fine right? She doesn't need to remember what she's been through." Hermione began to open the door before she was grabbed harshly by the top of her arm.

"But he's not fine now, is he? I knew that it was a bad idea at the time. 'He'd never be the same.' You remember me saying that now, don't you? I warned you, and her, and now it seems I was right. I look up in that bedroom and I see two people who have no idea why this is happening to them, and then I watch as their 'so-called-friends', who know exactly..."

"Now we don't know that that has anything to do with his...condition...."

"Who know EXACTLY why this is happening to them, tap dance around the subject as if we're protecting them, protecting her, from this. I'm only going to go along with this for Ginny, but I can tell you for damn sure that I'll do everything in my power to break that fucking memory charm that you performed on her that night. She's going to know that this is our fault. That's all I have to say. Get back inside before your missed." He basically threw her through the door before shutting it behind her. She stood in the cold alcove rubbing the top of her aching arm as a tear that had nothing to do with the pain fell silently down her cheek.

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Chapter 10 Teaser

"Why didn't you tell me that you and Draco used to date before we got married?" Ron was glad that the attention was shifted from his fight, but knew that he wouldn't be in the lead for long.

"There is a huge difference between dating someone and going on a date with someone, Ron."


	10. A Solemn Evening

CHAPTER TEN A SOLEMN EVENING

The atmosphere was a lot heavier that evening then Ginny had hoped it would be once the house was filled. Dinner tucked in and tea cups poured, everyone sat around the drawing room, speaking somberly and trying to keep their thoughts in the room instead of up the stairs with Harry. Hermione and Ron were barely on speaking terms and sitting in the corner having a warmed conversation just under earshot. Draco sat trapped in a corner by the twin wonders as they discussed the benefits of going International with Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes in America, as Americans seemed to buy anything as long as it was remotely funny. He tried to give them business advice but he was distracted by the looks of desperation being shot at him from under Ron's arm by Hermione. She had the look of a criminal that had been on the run for years before being cornered into a confession. He sat down the letter he had been trying to read for over an hour now. Since he had come down from the bedroom he had had several correspondences and had seemed particularly interested in this one before he had been interrupted. Crookshanks ran across the top of the couch and Draco reached up with one hand and pulled him down roughly in his lap. He needed something to occupy his energy even though he wasn't fond of the decrepit old fur ball, and a low growl from Crookshanks showed that he wasn't found of Draco either.

Ginny and Luna stood near the doorway but Ginny wasn't really listening to whatever Luna was on about. She was talking about coming across a teacup in the room and, just curious, had peeked inside at the soggy leaves to see a troubled relationship that was in need of attention. She saw death in the cup but wasn't sure how it fit in as the troubled couple didn't kill each other. Ginny nodded when she thought it was appropriate, but only to distract Luna from her constant glances up the staircase. She had suddenly developed a very weak bladder as she was constantly needing to go upstairs. She excused herself once again to check on Harry as Luna noticed that both Hermione and Ginny were the only ones not still holding their cup, but hadn't quite made it through the doorway when she heard a throat being cleared across the room.

"He's fine, Ginny. Let him sleep." Draco had suddenly claimed head of household and she was forced to pick up her hand and flip him off before leaving the room. He smiled as he watched her leave knowing that she was stronger then he had given her credit for.

If things had been tense between Ron and Hermione an hour before, they were getting tighter by the second. Ron had been getting eaten alive for nearly a month now after he had been seen hugging Lavender Brown goodbye at the train station. She had been getting on a train as he was getting off and she had run up to ask him how he was and hugged him goodbye but by the time it had gotten to Hermione, they had been fucking each other on the platform. Nothing he said could convince Hermione that he had no lingering feelings for Lavender, and in fact had not even missed her since their sixth year. There had never been and never would be feelings for her as she had just been a way to get to Hermione in the first place, but she wasn't hearing it. She was convinced now that every time he saw a woman in the street he was mentally undressing her. Any woman that even looked his way was flirting with him, and he was not only enjoying it, but returning the flirt. But last week he had found a life raft in the form of a letter from Viktor that Hermione had kept from school. She claimed that she had just forgotten that it was in her trunk, but he noticed that it had been moved not to the garbage, but to her scrapbook a couple of days later. "It's a memory from school. Get over it," was repeated by both parties over and over, add nausea. The battle had been raging for weeks on again ,off again, but it hadn't been mentioned today until Hermione had been telling Ron the plan with Draco. She had let slip while telling him about his former relationship with Ginny that she had also gone out with him. While he had made a mental note to ask Ginny if she had been retarded sometime in her life, now there was one more pawn for Ron to use and he shot a look of despise across the room at one of the men that had tried to pluck his flower.

"Why didn't you tell me that you and Draco used to date before we got married?" Ron was glad that the attention was shifted from his fight, but knew that he wouldn't be in the lead for long.

"There is a huge difference between dating someone and going on a date with someone, Ron." Hermione was exasperated. She really didn't want to discuss this here. "Are you saying that you wouldn't have married me if you knew Draco and I had spent a day or two in Hogsmeade? Well, I guess I don't have to wonder how shallow your pool is, Mr. Weasley. God Ron, are we still in school? Can't you just grow up and stop acting like he's eye humping me right here in the living room"

"Like you're one to talk about overreacting! I have a legitimate reason to distrust Malfoy now, but a perfect stranger in a shopping mall? Oh she's trying to get me to sleep with her! How do I know that there's still not something between the two of you now, huh? That after we're finished here that you won't run off to the comforting arms of your former lover? I don't like the idea of the two of you sleeping under the same roof now. We're keeping the bedroom door locked from now on just in case Mr. Malfoy gets any funny ideas. See? It's not so fun to be accused of something that you're not even thinking now is it?"

She tried to get up to leave, but he wasn't quiet done and from where she sat she could see that he was winning. She couldn't have that. Quickly scanning for a fatal blow she came across the bruise on Ginny's face and knew where to hit him next. "You know the reason that Ginny and Harry started to fight, Ron? He hadn't had sex with her for nearly a month and she was frustrated with him." Ron cringed at the visual he had just been force fed of his little sister cowgirl riding his best friend. "Look where that's gotten him. Nearly dead. Struggling for life. All because he couldn't respect his woman enough to be there for her when she needed him. How long has it been for us now, Ron? Coincidence?" She left him dumbstruck in the corner as she crossed over to try to get to Draco but she was cut off by Luna carrying an empty teacup.

"Hermione, is this your cup, dear?" Hermione shrugged her shoulders as she looked around, trying to locate her cup. "I hope not. It's tragic. Death, love, hate, pain...of course it would make a great romance novel." Hermione laughed as Luna crossed to try to talk Draco into letting her read his leaves, which he was not having. The twins jumped at the opportunity at knowing their next fiscal year and held up theirs one at a time. Luna lost herself in them and looked as if she was talking into a muggle walkie-talkie as if trying to convince the leaves that they must be mistaken that the building would learn to polka.

Ginny could barely see over the top of the stairs when she realized that she wasn't the only one in the hall. Sitting with his back against the doorway to Sirius's bedroom was a very pale Harry, glasses off and eyes closed, looking as though he was waiting admittance to join the portraits in their tomb. She ran up the stairs and knelt down next to him, recieving only a very small shudder to acknowledge her arrival.

"Harry? What are you doing out of bed? We've got to get you back. Come on, now." She placed an arm under each of his and tried to pull him up, but his body was limp and his head rolled to his shoulder roughly, knocking hard against the door frame. His eyes snapped open and looked up over Ginny's shoulder, not seeing her. She could see that his eyes were blood shot and glazed over. Even with his eyes now open but unfixed, he looked as if he had been dead for hours. She looked closely to make sure that he was even breathing and saw that he was, although shallow, breathing steady. Ginny's heart began to race as she was hit with a horrible feeling of deja vu. She saw her parent's faces look just like this at one time. The next time that she had seen them, their eyes had been forced closed and they lay side by side in the same coffin that would forever keep them comfortable in their rest. She felt as if she were being strangled and couldn't call out for the help that she so desperately wanted.

A muffled voice sounded from behind the closed doorway and brought a bubble of hope to Ginny's churning stomach. "Who comes pounding so loudly at my door, hmm? The polite thing to do for waking someone so rudely would be to come in for a visit." Ginny stood to think what the consequence of going into the bedroom now would be, especially dragging Harry in without his permission, but Professor Dumbledore was just through this door and it was rather rude of them to wake him.

"I'm sure some day you'll forgive me for this." She said softly to Harry before brushing a kiss onto his forhead and placing a hand on the rusted doorknob above his head. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes as if she was about to dive into a pool, she flung open the door, flinging Harry backwards into the room.

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Chapter 11 Teaser

For the first time since Harry had entered the room, the conversation finally carried far enough across the room that it was overheard by the farthest corner where the Potters' resided. At the mention of Harry's name, both Lily and James perked up from their slumber and tried to cross into the already crowded Weasley portraits.

"Harry's here?"

"What's this about him being hurt now?"


	11. An unexpected visitor

CHAPTER ELEVEN AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR

Harry's head hit the carpet with a deafened thud. His eyes snapped back shut and he lay motionless on the floor, despite the major headache he must be feeling by now. Ginny stepped gingerly over top of his lifeless form to pull down the maroon sheet that once again shrouded the greatest wizard she had ever known.

"Well now dear, it is good to see you. Twice in one week even. And what is this that you've brought me? A present?" He looked down at the unconcious boy in front of him and a twinkle came into his moonlike eyes. "Well that's not how I would have told you to handle things, but I guess we don't have to worry about you taking care of yourself, eh?"

"What? No. I didn't do this. It was Ron. Well, and Fred. And George."

Ginny heard a gasp come from the back corner of the room followed shortly by a screech that made even Harry jump in his sleep. "I told you NOT to tell your brothers. Oh my Gods, Ginny, what have they done to him? Let me see, let me see. Have you called the hospital or....oh my God, it's not too late is it?" Molly was in hysterics and even Arthur, Bill, and Charlie couldn't keep her from running through the adjoining portraits to push her way roughly past Dumbledore so that she could see her youngest. "Oh Ginny, they didn't. Harry? Is he...?" She looked up at Dumbledore as if pleading for him to save him.

"He's not gone, mum. He's pretty messed up but Draco helped me to..."

"Draco Malfoy?! He helped you , not helped Ron do this?"

"Lots has changed since the final battles mum, but anyways, yes he helped me to clean him up, and he seems to think that he'll be alright. He somehow got from the bedroom down the hall to in front of this door while we were all downstairs so he must be coming around, but now he won't even look at me."

Dumbledore cleared his throat and both women jumped as they had forgotten that he was listening from the side of his chair. "Remember Ginny, 'not every closed eye is sleeping, and not every open eye is seeing.' I think our young man had help to bring him here tonight so that when his ears took in the sounds of it's surroundings, he would hear some comfort and advice that just might help to wake him on the right side of the bed." He winked knowingly at her as Ginny tried to figure out how one person could speak in so many riddles and still know what the hell they were talking about.

"So, Ron, Fred, and George are here?"

"Yes, mum, also Luna Lovegood, Draco, and Hermione. I was trying to have some people over so I wouldn't have to be alone and now all I want is to be able to sit alone with Harry until he wakes up."

"Well, there's no reason for you to be a bad hostess, Miss Weasley. Harry is now surrounded by watchful eyes. Just leave the door open and we will let you know if there's anything he needs.

Even though she knew it was impossible, she felt as if she was being pulled slightly out of the room. She fought the invisible force to keep her place next to Harry, but she was overtaken by a feeling of comfort knowing that he was in good hands. Besides the fact that she really didn't want to be around when he did come too and realized where he was. "Well, I will just be downstairs and I'll come up to check on him in about half an hour. I really should get back to my company." She was met with nods of approval as their eyes gently pushed her out the door.

The door was pulled until it was only cracked an inch or so and Ginny's eyes could be seen scanning over the scene until the wood blocked out her vision.

Molly looked woefully at Dumbledore. "Do you think he'll be alright lying on the floor like that?"

"If he's going to be alright at all, he'll be alright there." His voice was calm and there was no hint of worry.

"Just let the ass lay on the floor. He deserves no better." Bill yelled over to the doorway and Molly turned to go and give him her sternest motherly look.

"How's my baby, Molly?" Arthur asked as she entered their frame.

"Well, if her story checks out then she seems to be doing a little better, although worried over _that boy_, but if she's lying then she might just have tried to kill Harry. I've never known my Ron to be much of a fighter, but Fred and George I'd believe."

"I agree. I'd buy Ginny killing Harry over Ron. I remember that note we got from school about what she did to her at the time boyfriend when she caught him snogging some girl. What was his name again? Thomas?"

"No dear, it was Dean. I hope they got his nose back on straight. She is a little firecracker. But Harry? I think the only real explanation is that Ron really did it."

"It's amazing what love can do to people." Dumbledore said from the front of the room. His voice seemed to echo around the walls and since they couldn't see his face, his voice boomed from around them like some Omnipotent being. "Love can turn to pain so quickly and violently and then calm back to the sweetest feeling. Harry's love for his parents caused pain for Ginerva, Ron's love for her caused pain for Harry. Life plays in vicious circles, one half good, the other half bad, but the good thing about circles is that they will always come back to the other. Harry's outer wounds, as well as Ginny's, will heal, but I believe the real thing we need to focus on is the wounds that both of them have endured on their hearts."

For the first time since Harry had entered the room, the conversation finally carried far enough across the room that it was overheard by the farthest corner where the Potters' resided. At the mention of Harry's name, both Lily and James perked up from their slumber and tried to cross into the already crowded Weasley portraits.

"Harry's here?"

"What's this about him being hurt now?"

Molly grabbed onto Lily's shoulders and gave her a look that said that she may just want to stay right where she was. "He's pretty banged up Lily, and I'm afraid my boys are to blame. We're a very protective bunch over our little girl. I think it might just be better if you stayed here and let us look after him."

Lily looked softly into Molly's eyes. "You know as well as I do that no mother would ever agree to that, Molly." She softly lifted Molly's hand from her shoulder and held it in her hand. "If you'll excuse me, my son needs me."

James had already started to walk forward through the maze of frames that would lead them to Dumbledore's, and so he came first upon the sickening scene. He turned quickly to face Lily as she came up behind him and tried to convey through his eyes what he had just seen before she had to see it for herself. Not even the look of pure horror and sadness that crossed his face could detain her from pushing past him to see her son. Dumbledore stepped lightly to the side to let the parents through and pushed his chair slowly beneath Lily as she clutched at her chest and sat back into the chair. For several seconds, no one spoke.

"He is breathing, isn't he?" Lily asked as she choked on the words, terrified of the answer.

"Of course he is dear. Albus said that he would be alright so there's no doubt in my mind that he will be."

A few more moments of silence passed. "I guess, no matter how much you think you're ready, or how strong you believe you are, you're never prepared to see your child like that, are you?" She reached up to pull James' hand down on her shoulder so that she would have his constant reassuring strength next to her. He seemed so sturdy, and his hand was firm on her shivering shoulder.

"The one thing you have to remember, Lily, is that he did bring this on himself." Sirius had come around the corner to looks of utter disbelief from all parties. "I know it's not easy for a parent to watch their child suffer, but as nasty as it is, children have to take their medicine, so to speak. Not that he deserved _this_but he did need to be taught a lesson. Perhaps this will keep him from hitting a defenseless girl again."

James began to speak but Lily beat him to it. " Maybe it's a good thing you never became a parent, Sirius. 'Just let them pull that icebox down on their heads, that'll teach 'um'. Didn't you see Harry in the graveyard? His eyes? That was not my boy; that was not Harry. He's empty. I don't know where he is, but wherever it is, he's in pain. He's suffering, and I can't get to him. Ginny sees it too, I know she does. It's woman's intuition. We know when our boys are in trouble, and Harry's in trouble. He's calling to me, day and night. I dream about him, calling out to me from some place I don't know and he's alone. He may not be going about it the right way, but he's calling out to us, to her, to find him." She looked up longingly into her husbands eyes. "Where is my son, James? Why can't I find him." She buried her head into his hip and began to sob silently. Sirius felt his piece had been said and so he found his way back to his own corner, leaving the Potters to mourn their lost child. He didn't understand, and probably never would, how a person could be so upset about losing someone that was inches from their hands.

Molly looked up into Arthurs' eyes and knew the pain that Lily felt. She had felt the same when she watched Percy leave the house for the last time that they ever saw him. She had outlived only one other of her sons, so she had seen Charlie as he lay lifeless in his casket. Nothing in this world outmatched a mothers pain for her suffering child and it was strong enough to cross the room to penetrate Molly's heart.

"You don't think we turned our backs on him too quickly, do you Arthur? I mean, he has been a part of our family for nearly ten years now and we just abandoned him like he meant nothing to us. Of course Ginny is our daughter, but hasn't Harry become our son as well? Can we chose one child over the other?"

"What is the saying though, Molly? 'Blood is thicker than water'. Ginny will always come first to me. I understand what you mean though. We did sort of just assume that he was doing it for pleasure. Until I hear from my daughter that she is safe and that he is treating her right though, he will not be a part of this family."

"But Arthur..."

"No Molly. Harry Potter is no longer a Weasley." He turned and walked out of frame to leave Molly to look desperately around for something else to cling too.

Lupin looked at Sirius as he returned to his home. "So, how's he look?"

"He looks like someone that just got the living shit kicked out of him. He'll be alright." He added at Lupins look of concern. "Ginny and that Malfoy boy must have had some medical experience before. Looks like they got most of the pieces put back together."

"And Lily?"

"Right now she looks worse off then the boy. We always knew that a baby James would be a real heart breaker, we just didn't assume it would be his own mothers." Sirius tried to smile at his own joke but saw that Lupin was in no mood to join in. He sat wearily down in his chair and picked at the bottom of his worn boots. "You know, I spent thirteen years in Azkaban and I think at this rate I would go back there just to break the monotony of eternity. It's only been eight years in this god- forsaken prison and I can't even hang myself from my top bunk."

Lupin looked questioningly at his friend. "Just trying to make conversation." Sirius said.

Harry's mind was blinking in and out of focus and bits of voices seemed to trail across his ears that he hadn't heard in years. His body was insubordinate to his mind and would not move no matter what he told it to do. He felt his eyelids flicker but he couldn't keep them open, try as he might. In the brief seconds that his lids would open, he thought that he saw his mother and father sitting next to...but it couldn't be...Dumbledore? And that was Molly and Arthur he could hear. Tones and syllables made people recognizable but there was not a single word that came through clear. His head began to pound and he knew that he was dying. Where was he? What happened? He had to be dreaming again. Only a dream would bring him into a realm where all of these people would surround him. 'If it is a dream, let me dream forever,' Harry thought as he struggled to maintain consciousness. If he couldn't bring his eyes to open, he would bring these people into his dreams. He lay motionless on the floor and let the sounds of his loved ones voices wash over him as slowly one by one they all came into clearer focus in his subconscious mind. Mum, dad, Dumbledore. Arthur, Molly, Sirius, Lupin. Ginny...

_If this is where I die, let her be the last thing that I see, _Harry thought.

Lily watched as a solitary tear washed it's way down the side of her sleeping sons cheek.

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Chapter 12 Teaser

"Ginny, listen...I can't be involved with you anymore. We've got to stop seeing each other. We can't be together."

"No Harry. Not this..." She had braved his good-byes once without even a tear, but now her eyes watered heavily and she put her hands over her ears to block out his words. "I never gave up on you then, Harry, and I'm not going to give up on you now."


	12. School DaZe

CHAPTER TWELVE SCHOOL DAZE

**AN: I own very little of this chapter. No disrespect is meant. I did have a lot of fun researching this chapter so I hope that you enjoy reading it. Please R/R. And thanks for reading! **

Several hours later, just as the moon had began it's ascent into the sky, Ginny awoke with a start, sitting on the living room sofa, her head cocked uncomfortably to the side and a half-eaten pound cake piece in her lap. Her fork had fallen to the floor, covered in crumbs that now littered the otherwise clean carpet. The room was empty except for a purring Crookshanks that was eyeing hungrily a very ticked off Hedwig. Ginny noticed for the first time how the usually snow white owl was slightly graying underneath her feathers and tried to calculate just how old she really was. She wasn't sure how old owls could live to be but she began to dread the day that Hedwig would be found, talon up. Harry had had that bird since before school. She must be the oldest friend he had. She had seen him more than anyone and probably been told more secrets than even she had heard from him. Hedwig was probably the first girl to see him completely naked, she giggled as the thought crossed her mind.

"If only you could talk, Hedwig. Maybe you and I could have a lot of things in common. You could probably tell me what Harry's thinking. You know his fears and I'm sure you could tell me what makes him tick."

The only response that she received was a cocked head and slight click of her beak before Hedwig was forced to retire higher up to escape a pouncing ball of fur. Ginny realized for the first time how late it really must be. She sat up quickly, knocking her entire plate on the ground. The crumbling cake was enough of a distraction for Crookshanks to give Hedwig time to fly out of the room and up the stairway where, when Ginny turned the corner to the staircase, she sat perched on the floor in front of the door to Sirius's bedroom where she tapped roughly on the door as if trying to break through.

"I know Harry's in there, Hedwig, but he can't pet you right now." Hedwig turned to give her a the most disgusted look an owl could give. "I'll get him out and take him to the bedroom, you can see him there if you want." Hedwig stood for a second as if she didn't understand before taking flight and heading straight to the bedroom door which she found, to her great disgust, also closed. She turned and directed a loud screech towards Ginny who only laughed at her disgusted pet. "I'll be there in a second, don't get your feathers in a ruffle."

Ginny turned the knob slowly, not wanting to wake anyone that wasn't already awake. As she pushed the door slowly open she saw Harry sitting against the portrait of Dumbledore, a look of utter confusion and disbelief on his face. She walked timidly inside, well out of arm length in case he was upset, and gave him a small smile of truce. "I see you're up. How's your head feel?"

"You!" There was no anger in Harry's words but Ginny still felt a need to back away a little farther.

"Yes, Harry. I just wanted to see how you were doing and if you were ready to head back to bed." She dared to take another step forward as he hadn't even attempted to stand up and she thought he might need help to.

"But I thought-----Snape---?"

Ginny stared at him for a second before turning around to see if she had been followed into the room by their old Potions master. "Harry? What are you talking about? Snape did what?"

"Snape tried to kill me."

"Snape didn't try to kill you, that was Ron."

"LIAR!!"

" Harry are you feeling alright?" She noticed a slight glaze to his eyes and noticed as she stooped down next to him that he hadn't really been looking at her, just towards her. He didn't even seem to be looking at anything in this room, but something far away.

Harry suddenly turned to look up into Dumbledores concerned eyes. "Sir! The Stone! It was Quirrell! He's got the Stone! Sir, quick-"

"Calm yourself, dear boy, you are a little behind the times," Dumbledore looked up to wink at Ginny. "At least I think that's what I said. He doesn't realize how far behind the times he really is, does he?"

Ginny's confusion now matched Harry's as she looked up at Dumbledore as well. "What is going on, Professor? What is he talking about? Doesn't he see me?"

Dumbledore let out a faint chuckle. "He seems as if he received a greater knock to the head then we thought. He's been going on for hours, telling me all about every rule he's ever broken at my school, without knowing it, of course. Everyone else has fallen asleep, but they've missed quiet a ride. I think his mother stayed the longest, up to the dragon in Hagrid's hut, before she was too tired to hear the rest. He's had fine conversations with Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger, as well as attended several classes. He seems to be back in his first year just now and if I'm not mistaken, we've just overheard some of the highlights of the climax of his adventures with the Philosophers' stone. He only seems to see me when it's appropriate to that time in his tales. I must say, it's been quite amazing to hear it all first hand."

"So you're telling me he has no idea I exist?" Ginny looked directly into Harry's eyes, searching for some sign of recognition, but he didn't even blink.

"Quite the contrary. You did see him off on the Hogwarts express nearly four hours ago." Dumbledore chuckled again before reaching for his bag of candy sitting on his vacant chair.

"VOLDEMORT!" Harry screamed suddenly and Ginny saw even Dumbledore give a little jump. Ginny looked around as if expecting to see the Dark Lord rise up out of the shadows. "I've met him and I'm calling him by his name."

"He seems to be focusing mainly on those moments that brought him great pain, or great pleasure. The moments that have been clearest have been moments concerning fears of death and joys of life. It might bring you some ease to hear the memories that still dwell inside him. Maybe you'll even learn something that he would not normally tell you if he knew he was talking." He gave a sly wink as he sucked on his second lemon drop. "Some of us say things we don't mean when we're conscious, but our subconscious is where we hide our real truths. Take advantage of the moments we have to live," he nodded towards Harry, "and those moments we get to relive."

Ginny looked over at Harry moments before she was knocked flat on her ass as he jumped up to his feet, pumping his fist in the air and applauding joyously.

"If I'm not mistaken, Gryffindor has just won the house cup. Well, at least he's up. That will make it easier to get him to the bedroom. Not to be rude, but I am an old man, and you know how old men like their sleep." She grinned and thanked him for watching over Harry before putting an arm around him to try to lead him out of the door.

"I've found with a good path, you can get anyone right where you want them to go." He winked at her one last time before sitting in his chair to retire for the evening.

Ginny got Harry out into the hall with only minor difficulty. He seemed to think he was being led off the field after some sort of injury as he was cradling his arm and kept talking to Mad-Eye. Occasionally she would remember what he was talking about, but he kept jumping around so much and it was hard to follow completely one-sided conversations. Half way down the hall, however, Harry suddenly began to scream in agony as he fell to the floor in complete convulsions just outside of Ron and Hermione's door. The door swung open as they both joined Ginny in her shock in the hall.

"What's happening?" Hermione shouted in complete disbelief. Then just as quickly as it had started, Harry stopped. "Don't move, Hermione. Remember, we're still playing."

"What are YOU playing at, Harry?" Ron asked.

"Just be thankful it's not your neck." Came Harry's untimely reply.

"You trying to call me out, Harry? Didn't get enough in the kitchen?" Ron began to roll up his sleeves as if preparing to fight but Ginny quickly stepped in.

"He's having flashbacks. Somehow," she looked accusingly at Ron, "he got knocked on the head pretty hard and he thinks he's at school. He's been reliving previous years."

"The chessboard." Hermione said, understanding coming over her face.

"What chessboard?" Ron asked.

"When we were going after the Philosophers' Stone and were on the chessboard, after you had been attacked, that's what Harry said to me. 'Remember, we're still playing.' "

"I think that's what he said when the Whomping Willow broke my wand in second year." Ron undid his sleeves as he began to see as well.

Ginny began to understand one of Dumbledores riddles. "He heard you. When you came out, he heard you talk and reacted." Ron helped her to pull him up onto his feet and they walked him towards the door to the bedroom where a very pissed off bird stay waiting to be let in. "Hedwig, tell Harry off for keeping you waiting."

Hedwig let out a very loud series of squeaks that startled Harry and he tried to locate the source of the noise. "You know I can't let you out Hedwig. I'm not allowed to use magic outside of school. Besides, if Uncle Vernon hears you..."

"That's it. That's what Dumbledore meant by leading him down the path I wanted. Come on Hedwig, you deserve to sleep in the bedroom. I can take him from here." Ginny looked over at Ron as he backed to join Hermione by their door, both of them with looks of uncertainty on their faces.

"Now you've done it." Harry said as he gave Hedwig a look of despair. She sharply replied before flying back down the stairs to chase the spiders in the basement.

Ginny led Harry to the bed and then untucked her head from under his shoulder, letting him fall sharply to the bed. "I hate portkeys." Harry said. Ginny couldn't help but laugh as she bookmarked this occasion to tell him later how ridiculous he sounded. She lay down next to him on the bed, trying to think of exactly what she wanted to know from him, but her weight on the bed was enough to start him on the right track, if not exactly where she wanted.

"Ginny--don't be dead--please don't be dead." Harry rolled over and grabbed Ginny roughly by the shoulders shaking her as if trying to wake her up. "Ginny, please wake up." She looked deeply into his eyes, trying to see what he was seeing as she couldn't remember him ever saying that to her.

"Where are you Harry?" She asked, trying to lead him home as well as join him where he was.

"You've got to help me, Tom. We've got to get her out of here. There's a basilisk..."

"Tell me where to find you, Harry."

"Look," said Harry, losing patience, "I don't think you get it. We're in the Chamber of Secrets. We can talk later-----"

"The Chamber? Harry, you actually saw Tom Riddle in the Chamber? You never told me that." She smiled as she realized her true power over him. "What else haven't you told me, Mr. Potter?"

For a brief second, Ginny thought Harry had come back as he looked struck into her eyes. "Since when did you call me Potter?" But just as quickly as the recognition was there, it was gone again.

"Professor Dumbledore...Riddle said I'm like him..Strange likeness, he said..." Ginny's brow furrowed as she listened to Harry pour out his soul. "The Sorting hat told me I'd­­---I'd have done well in Slytherin." There was a bit of a pause as Harry listened to Professor Dumbledores' response. "Voldemort put a bit of himself in me?" Harry sounded nearly as thunderstruck as Ginny now was.

"Voldemort? Inside you?" Ginny sat up sharply, knocking Harry back onto his back on the bed. Ginny was reeling from the information that she was being given, and searched for something that would brighten the conversation. "Harry, remember all the Christmases we've spent together?"

Harry closed his mouth and tilted his head as if trying to think really hard. "Christmas? Mistletoe?"

Ginny scanned her mind for a time when they had been caught under the mistletoe. She smiled as she thought of all their Christmases together, but couldn't ever remember there being any mistletoe around. "Harry, when did we ever kiss under mistletoe?"

"It was wet." Harry said almost disgusted.

"What?!" Ginny couldn't believe what she was hearing. She knew she had _far_ more experience than he did when they had their first kiss. She had never been told that she was bad, in fact, she seemed to always be greatly enjoyed and she wondered how Harry could be the one out of ten that didn't think she was amazing.

"Because she was crying."

The situation just got more confusing. She never let Harry see her cry, let alone, kiss him while crying. Then, the horrible truth hit her stomach and she had a sudden bitter taste in her mouth. He wasn't talking about their first kiss. He was talking about _his_first. Cho Chang, the village bike. Her stomachache began to climb and suddenly her heart was immersed in the vice that was trying to crush her. Had Harry loved Cho the same way that he claimed he had loved her? Hoping she wouldn't regret asking, she swallowed the clamp to regain use of her voice.

"Harry, do you love her?"

"I've always loved her." Ginny's heart plummeted. "I've known her for years...I should feel protective....it's natural to want to look out for her...want to rip Dean limb from limb for kissing her..."

_Dean_kissed Cho? Did every one of her boyfriends have a ride?

"She's Ron's sister. Ron's sister. She's out-of-bounds."

A smile crept across Ginny's face as she realized how he had answered the question exactly like she hoped he would. When asked if he loved "her", he had interpreted it as Ginny, meaning, hopfully, that she was the only one that the word love could be associated to. "You've always loved me?" Her eyes began to water.

"If I could only be alone with her...just a minute without Ron...Amortentia...something flowery...Why does my love potion smell like Ginny?..." Ginny watched his eyes as they darted back and forth as if speed reading over a script that held many years of their lives. "Got to ask her out soon or someone else will....she's too popular for her own good...Don't think about it...just kiss her..." Ginny's smile matched his as in both of their minds they relived their very first kiss. It was the first time in quite a while that she had seen Harry smile like that and she wished the moment would never end. As happy as she felt at that very moment, as Harry's smile dropped, the next several minutes made her feel that she would never be happy again.

"Ginny, listen...I can't be involved with you anymore. We've got to stop seeing each other. We can't be together."

"No Harry. Not this..." She had braved his goodbyes once without even a tear, but now her eyes watered heavily and she put her hands over her ears to block out his words. "I never gave up on you then, Harry, and I'm not going to give up on you now." She watched until his mouth stopped and hoped that he had said his piece and she wouldn't have to say goodbye to her love again. As she slowly removed her hands she realized that he was also starting to cry. In several years she had seen him shed one, sometimes two, tears at a single time, but now they started to flow freely, something that confused and relieved her at the same time.

"They're all dying...it's my fault..." He stood up at the end of the bed and brandished an invisible wand at an unseen foe. "Expeliarmus! Look out Hermione! Impedementa! Ron, duck! Lupin...NOOOO! Lucius you bastard! Voldemort....leave her out of this....you want me? Take me! Just leave her alone.... Malfoy? Ginny NO!" At this Harry lept onto Ginny, pinning her to the bed and covered her head with his hands. It took several moments for her to realize he was no longer moving but had become dead weight on top of her. She rolled him over onto his back and he appeared to have fallen asleep at last. Ginny watched him for nearly an hour before she realized that he wasn't going to wake up_. Good. I bet he needs the rest._ As did she. Her mind raced over all that she had heard and knew that he loved her. For the first time in years, she knew that he loved her. Even with all the horrible things that they had been forced to live through, they had done it together. She knew at that moment that they would make it through this as well. Her heart finally at rest, she lay next to her love as she feel into his rhythm and dreamt.

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Chapter 13 Teaser

"Well, I think it's only fair that all the pain I caused is replaced with pleasure." He whispered into her ear before lightly biting her earlobe. The words sent a chill down Ginny's spine and she could hardly sit still for the thought of what was to come.

"You know that's awful cocky of you. You caused me a lot of pain. Do you think you can really replace all of that?" She already knew that he could, but she wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of knowing that she had truly missed him.


	13. Ginny's worst nightmare

CHAPTER THIRTEEN GINNY'S WORST NIGHTMARE

**AN: This chapter contains explicit sex. What you've really been reading for, right? Well I hope that this delivers. **

Ginny sat on the edge of the bed and played lovingly with Harry's shock of black hair. He looked up at her from his position on his knees and smiled . "I do believe that I still owe you a proper apology." Harry said teasingly.

Ginny smiled and looked down at him from the top of her sparkling eyes and they failed to hide the look of excitement behind them. "And what, do you think, is a 'proper' apology, Mr. Potter?" She knew, rather hoped, that she knew what the answer was.

"Well, I think it's only fair that all the pain I caused is replaced with pleasure," he whispered into her ear before lightly biting her earlobe. The words sent a chill down Ginny's spine and she could hardly sit still for the thought of what was to come.

"You know, that's awful cocky of you. You caused me a lot of pain. Do you think you can really replace all of that?" She already knew that he could, but she wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of knowing that she had truly missed him.

He looked up at her as he removed his glasses and she saw that Harry had been replaced by some sort of an animal, lurking just behind his eyes. He had a slight curl to his lip that reminded Ginny of a snake's before the strike. He ran a hand firmly up her leg and when he reached her hips, he pushed gently, laying her down flat on the bed, her legs hanging over the side. He slipped a hand slyly up her thigh and paused right before her under ware to listen to the gasp that escaped her lips. He clutched her knees firmly in his hands and pushed them apart, spreading her legs. His hand waved over her and her underwear vanished leaving her exposed and open. Ginny grasped at the sheets on the bed. She wasn't sure what to expect as she had never been pleasured orally before, but she hoped it was all she heard it was. Her breath caught as she felt Harry's breath close in on her legs, his nose rubbing the inner side of her thigh lightly before he kissed it. His animal side escaped slightly and she felt a tight pinch as he nibbled on her leg.

"Harry. Be nice." She had almost sat up at the pain, but as it eased it felt more desirable than anything she had ever wanted. She almost regretted telling him to stop. He kissed the spot softly before continuing up her leg. His nose brushed her clit softly before Ginny was overwhelmed with a sensation she had never felt before, but knew that she would never be able to do without now. Harry slowly ran his tongue over her silky skin as if enjoying a sweet treat. When he reached the top he softly pulled her clit into his mouth, sucking gently. At this, Ginny let go of the sheets to grab at his hair. Her gasps were nearly constant now and it took all her power to keep from pulling him up to finish the job right then. She knew it could only get better from here.

As Harry continued to explore her with his mouth, licking here and sucking there, his hands crept slowly farther up her legs, his fingers were hurt at being left out of the fun. He played briefly with her lips before his finger thrust itself deep into her, rubbing at the throbbing tissue near her stomach. When one finger wasn't enough, he pulled back just long enough to add another, and then another. As he pulled his fingers in and out of her, his tongue continued to flick toyingly at her swollen clit. Her gasps had turned into moans and she began to push gently down on his head to direct his tongue where she wanted it to go.

Harry looked up with a cocked eyebrow. "Um, Ginny?"

They both laughed as she realized what she had just been doing. "Sorry. Please, don't stop." She placed her hands back up on the bed and nearly tore the sheets off as he began to thrust once again. He removed his fingers and she felt her own fluids wipe off on her skin as he grabbed around her hips to place a hand on either side of the small of her back. He slid his tongue down her personal grove and moved the skin that covered her over. He thrust his tongue where only two things had ever dared tread before. He pulled towards him on her hips and his tongue dove deeper into her pool. She was salty, almost bitter, but he drank of her like it was the sweetest cream he had ever tasted.

"Oh, Harry." She screamed as she crossed the line over to need. She wasn't ready. She didn't want this to end this soon. She reached down to grab his arms and pulled him up towards her. "Get in me. NOW!"

Harry picked Ginny up from off of the bed and slammed her up against the wall. They locked into a deep, hard kiss as she thrust her tongue past his lips and tickled the top of his tongue. He ran his hands around the side of her thighs, grasping tightly as he lifted her firmly up the wall. She wrapped her smooth legs around his naked waist and felt his penis brush her legs. She reached down and grabbed it, placing it just inside her ridge before sliding her body down the wall to slam him deep into her. He had been nearly off-center and so she felt her skin pull slightly, but she enjoyed the mix of pain and pleasure and announced it loudly. His scream matched her own and she knew that he had felt the same ripping force that she had. She wrapped herself even tighter around his body as she was rubbed up and down the smooth wall. She tucked her head down into his shoulder and kissed him roughly. She tasted the salty sweat running off his body and knew that some of it was her own. Her hair had become matted to her face and she tried vainly to brush it out of her eyes. She met his lips once again and gasped as he bit her bottom lip. She felt his arms begin to shake with her weight and she tried to wrap her legs tighter around him to ease the pressure. She pulled back to look him in the eyes, asking him silently if he was alright. The look she got returned was one of frustration. He knew he couldn't hold her long, but he was far from being done. She motioned with her eyes toward the bed and he responded with a one sided smile.

Harry turned her quickly and she was slammed back down on the bed. He was pulled out painfully and she yearned for him to come back. He climbed on top of her and she looked wantingly over his glistening body. She watched the sweat running down his lightning bolt scar and it stood out for the first time in years. His defining scar was now hers and she traced it with her finger. She looked farther down and noticed that his member had beads of sweat running over it, mixing in with the white that let her know he had already succumbed a little to her. She welcomed the weight of his body as he slid back into her firmly.

"Don't we need to turn around?" Ginny asked as they had their heads at the bottom of the bed.

Harry just smiled devilishly as his motives for facing the foot became clear. Facing this way allowed him to place his feet against the headboard and use it as a kick board. The first jump off slammed him so deep into her that Ginny was sure she had just been touched deeper then anything had ever been. She was surprised and impressed at the same time. She wrapped her legs around his waist to try to pull him even deeper, but immediately dropped them back to the bed as it pulled him deep enough to be painful. She must have jumped slightly because he stopped briefly before she urged him on.

"God, baby. I don't think I could stand it if you where any bigger."

She could see the pride build in his eyes as he kissed her on her neck, using his head to push her head aside to give him access to the gap between her neck and shoulder. "I was just made to fit you." He said. She could tell that he could hardly think straight let alone speak right now and so she pulled his head towards her lips so she could busy his mouth with something that he was good at. Each thrust banged the headboard loudly against the wall and it became an unspoken goal to try to out scream the bangs of the board. Ginny was pulsing deeply now and she knew that this orgasm would come from deeper inside her than she thought possible.

She knew the moment would end shortly and so she scanned her mind for anything that she wanted from him before he was no longer in her control. He may have been on top, but there was nothing he ever got away with that wasn't completely wanted by her. She dominated him from any position and now she had but seconds left before her control was over. Suddenly her thoughts flew to the light nibble he had given to her inner thigh and she knew what she wanted, and badly.

"Bite me, Harry." She whispered into his ear as she presented her shoulder to his lips. "Hard."

He looked at her briefly as if to confirm her desires before Ginny saw the animal take control of him again and he tore into her flesh, grasping it firmly between his teeth as he shook his head slightly side to side. The pain seared through her body and she screamed loud enough to hurt her throat, but it was the most enjoyable pain she had ever been in and she craved more. She arched her back, plunging him into her spasming tissues as she came hard, mixing the enjoyment of the pain with the strongest orgasm she had ever had. It was so fierce that she thought she might have just died. She felt the fluids run onto her thighs and she was almost embarrassed that she had cum so hard. She was sure that he could feel her continuing flow and worried that she had lost control of her bodily functions she was so numb. For several moments she felt as if she couldn't even move, until she noticed that something wet and cold was beginning to run up her back. Her pleasure was quickly changing to concern as she was sure that this could not be normal. She reached down her side and felt the dampening sheets that saturated her fingertips in something thick that changed her concern to fear. She looked over to her side, too terrified to bring up her hand, and nearly screamed at the horror that was quickly surrounding her.

"Blood! Harry, I'm bleeding! Get up, I think you hurt me." She was panicking and couldn't even find the strength to push him up from off of her shoulder. His head was buried next to her neck and he never once lifted it as he began to speak.

"Harry Potter is dead. I killed him myself. I can't believe you didn't notice the difference. You think a mere boy could have fucked you like that?"

"Harry, this is no time to fuck around, I really think I need help. Can't you feel all that blood?" She watched as it began to encircle her, staining her hair a deeper red. She noticed that the bite on her shoulder had become a deep tear and the blood was running swiftly down her breast and arm to pool deeper into the sheets.

Slowly, as if with no real concern, he lifted his head and looked her directly in the face, but it wasn't Harry's eyes that stared into hers. Harry's green eyes had been replaced instead with slits of burning scarlet that bore deeply into Ginny's mind and made her heart stop beating.

Ginny began to stutter terribly as her mind had lost contact with her lips.

A deep, raspy voice uttered from deep within Harry's throat. "Say my name, bitch."

"Voldemort!?"

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Chapter 14 Teaser

She stood, letting the water run over her throbbing head and as she tipped her head into the stream she opened her mouth a bit, hoping to drown her sorrows. She opened her eyes and watched as the clotted blood turned to trickles of red that ran down her legs before being dropped onto the white tile in small puddles, staining the beautiful marble with little pink spots as the red was forced away by the raging force of the water. As the last drop made it's final swirl around the drain she breathed a sigh of great relief. It was gone. For now, she had washed herself clean of Harry. _No, not Harry_, she thought, _just his pain_. If only her suffering was as easy to wash away.


	14. Midnight Moonshine Massacre

CHAPTER FOURTEEN MIDNIGHT MOONSHINE MASSACRE

**AN: I know that was a mean place to leave it, so I'm updating quickly to avoid the pitchforks. **

Ginny's body was nearly in convulsions when she flung up off the bed. She put her hand down next to her shaking form to sit herself up and was horrified to find that the bed was wet. It was only a dream. It was only a dream. Ginny knew that there would be nothing but perspiration on her fingers when she lifted them to her face, but she soon found she didn't know anything. As she lifted her hand to her eyes she saw exactly what she knew couldn't possibly be there. The bed was indeed covered in thick, clotting blood. She began to scream but was stopped when she realized that there was someone else in the room moving, and she could feel Harry's body lying next to her, completely still. Her breath became bated and she suddenly realized that she couldn't even blink. As the only light came from the moon seeping through the window behind the bed, a black form was only recognizable when a voice issued from the darkness.

"Damn it, I'm sorry." Draco's drawl came from the shadows before he lit the nearby candles. "I didn't mean to wake you. I was giving him his Blood Replenishing potion and the dumb ass choked on it. He must have hit his head on the headboard while he was coughing. That damn scar opened again. I thought he was awake. He spoke and everything. Are you okay?" Ginny was now shaking as she tried to wipe the blood off onto the sheets.

"I had a bad dream, that's all." She turned to look at Harry. Blood covered his chin and ran down into the crease of his ears, but his eyes were the most beautiful shade of green she had ever seen them and he smiled at her when he saw her look at him.

"A bad dream huh? What could you possibly have to be afraid of?" Draco cocked his head slightly in a know-it-all pose. "You dream about kissing this pussy?" He nodded at Harry as a curled lip showed his disdain for Harry.

"No, Draco." She rolled her eyes as she wiped the blood from Harry's chin before noticing it was more on her than him. "What did he say to you? Did it make sense?"

"Coming from Potter? It was words if that's what you mean."

"No, I mean did it sound like he knew he was talking to you? Like YOU, right now?"

"Well, I said 'Potter you gotta drink this.' and he said 'Give it here, Malfoy.' So I go to dump it in his mouth, and he starts choking like he had no idea it was coming. I thought he was awake. "

"Probably awake, but not alert yet. I don't know what I'm gonna...wait a minute. How did you get in here?"

"Your door wasn't locked in any serious way." Draco offered her the vial with the remaining drought in it, but she put her hand up.

"If you wouldn't mind, I can't do this right now. I have to get out of here. I have to get cleaned up." She began to pull on her robe as he crossed the room to look questioningly into her eyes, which she dropped to the floor.

"What's goin' on, Gin? That dreams got ya this worked up? Wanna talk about it?"

"The war isn't over, is it? We'll never be rid of Voldemort. He's not gonna let me just live my life. Look what he's done to us, and he's not even here." Her eyes began to water and with one swift glance at Harry, and she ran from the room hoping it wasn't noticed.

Draco stood puzzled at the sudden departure. He looked over at Harry, who had rolled over and fallen back to sleep. "What she has done for you? She should feel safe, like an untouchable entity. You can't even make her feel wanted. Why does she love you so much? If I hadn't let them...God Potter, I hate you." He spat on the floor as he turned to leave the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

^__^

Down the hallway, Hermione was stopped mid-sentence by a sudden slam of a door. Both her and Ron looked towards their door as if expecting the storming footsteps they heard to come through it. As the footsteps receded down the stairs, Hermione flipped her head back to bury her eyes into Rons once again.

"Sounds like more than one man is in trouble in this house tonight."

"That wasn't Ginny, she was the one before. When she's mad, Ginny stomps more like..."

"Excuse me, are you actually gonna talk about your sister at a time like this? I can't believe you'd say something like that right now, but then again, it's better then what you just said."

"I was just trying to get something started, you know. I was seeing if you'd want to make love."

"By saying 'blow me'?. Are you serious? Ron, we haven't had sex in like two months and _that's_ how you think you're going to get me? You're really some piece of work, you know that?" She stood up from the bed and pulled her robe closed tight around her.

"Don't act like it's my fault we don't have sex. You're the one that's never interested. What am I supposed to do anymore, huh? I've tried the flowers, the dinners, the romantic evenings, and I get nothing...out...of...." Ron stopped at the look of absolute astonishment that was creeping over Hermione's face. He wished he could just choke on his tongue and die as she began to laugh.

"You did not just say that. You got nothing out of spending time with your wife? I'm not some cheap hooker that you can just buy sex off. This isn't school where some niave slut is gonna put out because you buy her dinner. God, you insensitive prick. You know what? Blow yourself."

Her exit door slam echoed off the walls and made Draco spill his butter beer down in the kitchen. Moments later, as he was moping up the table, Hermione stormed into the kitchen and gave a slight jerk of the head that signaled she had been startled by seeing company in her mid-night fuming.

"Oh sorry, I hope we didn't wake you." She noticed his half empty bottle was joined by several others and knew he had been up much longer than she had. "Trying to drown you sorrows, Mr. Malfoy?"

"Care to join me, Mrs. Weasley?" Draco asked as he pulled out four more bottles and distributed them across the table.

"Please, it's Hermione, okay."

"Whatever you say, Hermione." Draco's face broke into a knowing smile. "Sounds like we need something a little stronger, huh?" He opened the bottles of butterbeer and dumped half of each into the sink before pulling a flask from inside his pocket and emptying the contents into each bottle.

"What is it?" Hermione asked, having never had anything stronger than wine before.

"Never you mind. Let's just call it 'heartbreak killer'. By the time you finish off those two, you won't even remember the name of that asshole." He raised a bottle in cheers before swigging half of it in one gulp. Hermione picked hers up gingerly before taking a long drink herself. She felt a warming sensation begin to choke at her throat before turning into a fireball inside her empty stomach. She coughed at the sudden sensation and Draco laughed at her novice.

"Lightweight, huh? I like it. So, got something on your mind? You didn't go to bed with a guilty conscience did you?" His eyes bore deep into hers as now it was her turn to look away guiltily.

"We don't have to feel guilty about anything, Draco. We helped out two of our friends. There is no greater honor then to help out a friend in need." She felt her words empower her and she looked up defiantly.

Draco began to snicker as he shook his head. "You amaze me, you know that? You can turn anything into a 'noble deed'. Even in school when you thought that if we could just get along then all Slytherins and Gryffindors would join. 'Inter school unity' or some shit like that. You know you just wanted to hit this." He was surprised at the smile that slowly crept across her face, but then he noticed the red patches beginning to form on her cheeks.

"You just heard that Gryffindors do it better. We have a thirst to prove ourselves." She winked across the table as she took another drink.

"You heard that you'd never experienced anything like a Slytherin tongue orgasm." He raised his eyebrow as if in offering.

"That's a good one. I'd never heard that before. We'd always been told that Slytherin 'snakes' only answered to the call of other 'snakes'."

"Now you know that's not true. All snakes live in holes, and this snake likes to migrate to a new home for every season." They both began laughing for several minutes before the immaturity of the conversation set in.

"We did only what we thought best for Ginny. She couldn't live with herself if she remembered what he did for her." Hermione became suddenly somber again as the mood swings brought on by the alcohol began.

"And look what we've done for her. She's not sure he even loves her. So much that she'd risk bodily harm to try and trick him into feeling something for her. He was never good for her, leading her on, playing with her emotions. It makes me sick." He slammed his bottle down on the table after finishing the liquor and shattered the bottom sending shards flying across the table.

"From the way you're talking, it sounds like you've still got a thing for her, don't you?"

"She's like the little sister I never had, Hermione. I love her, but I've never been _in_ love with her. I just want to protect her."

^___^

Upstairs in the master bath, Ginny stood naked in front of the fogging mirror, watching as her bloodstained body faded into the mist. She hadn't realized just how covered she was until she had gotten her clothing off, but now as she looked down at her pale white form, the red patches glared back at her as if it was her fault they were there. Unable to look anymore, she turned away to test the water in her running shower. It was hot, a little more then she liked it, but she thought if she could at least get her skin to pinken a bit then the stains wouldn't look as bad.

She stood, letting the water run over her throbbing head and as she tipped her head into the stream she opened her mouth a bit, hoping to drown her sorrows. She opened her eyes and watched as the clotted blood turned to trickles of red that ran down her legs before being dropped onto the white tile in small puddles, staining the beautiful marble with little pink spots as the red was forced away by the raging force of the water. As the last drop made it's final swirl around the drain she breathed a sigh of great relief. It was gone. For now, she had washed herself clean of Harry. _No not_ _Harry_, she thought, _just his pain_. If only her suffering was as easy to wash away. Harry was safe, for now, wherever he was. He wouldn't miss her if she was gone. At that, she turned off the water and began to ring out her hair.

"I need to be alone," she said to the empty bathroom. She began to shove her jeans on even though she wasn't completely dry yet and her shirt was even tighter as it stuck to her wet stomach. She pulled her hair up tightly in a dripping pony tail before shoving her feet into her trainers. Harry had given her plenty to think over without knowing it and she decided she couldn't think it out in such a crowded house. Being Sunday morning, she knew that her desk at the Ministry would be empty and secluded and it called to her. She heard inaudible voices in the kitchen as she flung down the stairs and out the front door.

^___^

"Was that the door?" Hermione asked as she lifted her head up from the table.

"Yeah, maybe." Draco said as he examined the back of his hand. It appeared that Harry had spit a little farther then first noticed and Draco hadn't seen the blood on the back of his hand until just then. As Hermione's head hit the table with unnoticed force, Draco slid away from the table to cross to the sink where the water began to flow with a sudden splash off the stainless steel tub. He dipped his hands into the freezing water and let the red spill down his fingers as he played with the droplets across his fingers, rolling them from one to the other before they slipped away. He pulled his hands out of the water before the final drop fell and licked it off of his knuckles.

"What is that, Draco?" Hermione's eyes slightly crossed as she tried to bring him into focus.

"Potter." Draco's voiced dripped with as much disdain as his fingers dripped water. He watched as the blood washed down the drain. If only Potter was that easy to get rid off. He should have never left that battle field. "We should have _never_ let him leave that field, Hermione. He should have just died there."

"What are you on about, Draco? We did what we had to do." She was instantly sober as she looked at him questioningly. "Don't you think we did the right thing? For Ginny's sake, don't you think it was best?" She stood at his hesitance to cross the room. "Don't you?"

"I told you then that I thought it was a bad idea. All I know is that Potter's been given one too many chances at life, and he's pissing them all away. I'm tired of watching him disrespect the gifts he's been given. "The-boy-who-lived" gets everything handed to him on a fucking goddamn platter. He could have had any one of those girls at that school, and he throws every one of them away. Then he goes and gets himself another chance at life, with an amazing woman, and he's...."

Hermione put a comforting hand on each of Draco's arms as she looked up into his eyes. "Do you want to go through with this? I mean, can you?"

"I promised Ginny..."

"You can't do this for Ginny, Draco. If you did that, you might expect something in return." She looked knowingly into his eyes and he tried to hide the truth he knew she could see. You have to do this for Harry. Not the Harry that's upstairs, but the Harry we all know."

"Well fuck that then. Fuck him. I'm out." He picked up his flask from the table and placed it back in his hip pocket.

Hermione grabbed him from behind and turned him around, holding him tightly by both arms again. Her robe hung limply off her revealing her slender white shoulder. "Draco, you can't leave us. Don't leave me. I need you."

They were both startled as the door slammed into the wall. Ron stood with a look of pure betrayal hardening his features. "I'm only taking a bit of your own advice, Hermione, and not jumping to conclusions, but you have exactly thirty seconds to tell me why I just found you, half naked, in another mans arms."

Hermione looked up at Draco, who didn't look as if he was at all interested in helping her out of this situation, and pulled her robe onto her shoulders and closed it tight around her. Ron noticed the bottles of empty liquor on the table and began to grind his teeth.

"Why the insecurity, Weasley? Afraid that she'd find out that _real_ men are supposed to have dicks?"

Hermione was shoved roughly into the table as Ron rushed Draco, catching him off guard and knocking him into the cabinets.

"Hit me, Weasley." Draco provoked. Ron's fist made a valiant effort, ripping the tense air between the two men, but was caught mid-swing by Draco's firm grip. "You really thought you could do it, didn't you? Well, unlike Potter, I'm not gonna just cower. You're mine nancy boy." He swung once into Ron's stomach, knocking all of the air out of him and let him drop to the floor. "Better learn to control that temper or you might just find out one day you've finally tempted a viper." Draco looked over at Hermione as he crossed to leave the room. "Sorry the party's been cancelled. I'll think about what you said. If you see me in the morning, then you'll know what I've decided."

Hermione stood swaying a little before looking down at Ron who was trying to push himself up off of the floor with one hand, the other clutching his stomach as he choked on the air. "What....were...you doing....with Malfoy?" Ron gasped.

"Not everything has to be sexual, you know." She said as she tried to regain balance against the table. She started to stumble out of the room but was stopped at the door. Slowly she turned back around. "Are you okay?" She asked, genuinely worried. She took his continued coughs to mean 'no' and returned to her spousal position, kneeling next to him on the cold kitchen floor until he was able to return upstairs.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

**Chapter 15 Teaser**

Draco had been raised in a military family and he knew that the only logical plan was to form a plan of attack. He had been called here to try and bring Harry out of his ass. Ginny was willing to do anything to get Harry back. From a military standpoint, that one looked like a losing battle. He wasn't going to be able to do anything for Ginny, but Hermione was just waiting to be rescued. He wondered if that wasn't the real reason that he had been brought here.


	15. Shattered realities

CHAPTER FIFTEEN SHATTERED REALITIES

A small pop echoed as Ginny Apperated into the gleaming lobby of the Ministry of Magic. There were several people still working at their desks, and several more waved to Ginny as they walked past and Disapperated directly behind her on their way off shift. She crossed quickly, trying not to make eye contact with anyone, showed her badge to the security officer and then continued to the lift at the far side. When she stepped inside she pressed the down button and waited until a female voice chanted "Department of Mysteries."

When she finally sat her jacket across the back of the chair at her desk, Ginny felt she could breath. Her department was closed on Sundays and she could leave the lights off and kick her feet up on the desk without any interruption. She looked at the pile of never ending work that stacked around the walls and knew that tomorrow she must return to the drudgery of her job, but for now there was nothing she had to do but think. As Ginny looked around the room, several sets of eyes stared back at her and in the dark it started to freak her out. She lit the lamp sitting on the corner of her desk and hundreds of portraits came into full view. Far away in the back of the room, Ginny heard the sweeping sound of a brush crossing over canvas and knew that it had begun the painting of a witch or wizard that had just died. Ginny's department was the Department of magical deaths and inside her co-worker was a magical brush that like the quill across the hall that wrote down the names of all wizarding babies born, recorded a monumental time in a wizards life; their crossing over into the realm of spirits. All the portraits in Hogwarts and many wizarding homes that held images of people that had crossed over had been painted in this very room. Ginny's job was to confirm the death and send the portraits out to the appropriate places stated in the persons will. Most returned to their family's, others to favorite vacation spots. Ever since the war, however, they had not been able to keep up. Six years later, Ginny was still sending out those who's lives had been taken in those final battles. Mothers who hadn't seen their children, husbands that hadn't seen their wives all rejoiced when it was their turn to be plucked from the pile and post marked to return to their families. Some would only find that their wives and children had been just behind them in the stacks for years.

Ginny had to walk around the room and turn all the portraits to the wall so that they would stop looking at her with their pleading eyes. She wasn't in the mood to help others find closure right now.

^___^

In the basement room where Draco had set up room and board for the weekend with Fred and George, sudden chaos was ensuing. Draco had stormed in moments before and literally threw the sleeping twins out of their bed by overturning the mattress. They looked up sleepy eyed from the floor with calls of "what the hell?" as Draco began to throw their bedclothes out the door into the stairwell.

"Find another place to wet-dream tonight, boys. This is your eviction notice." Draco continued to hold the door open as if expecting them to just go quietly.

"What the fuck Malfoy? Can't you find somewhere else to shag whatever hooker you've brought home? It's the middle of the night."

"If your not out of this room in three seconds it will be you that's getting your ass beat now get the fuck out!" That was all it took. Both boys picked up their things from off the staircase before walking up them to find another hole to crawl into.

Draco firmly slammed the door shut behind them casting a locking charm to keep out any wandering eyes. "What is she doing with him!?" He screamed at the top of his lungs. He slammed himself backwards onto the bed and tried to calmly think what the great attraction had to be.

" Harry Potter the boy who could do no wrong. He won't die! That's a huge mistake in my book. Stupid four-eyed fag. And that stupid hair! It looks like some woman used him as a God-damn tampon." What the fuck? Potter doesn't have red hair. That's Weasley. "Well it's not like Harry's is any better. He has to upset his woman so much that she can't even sleep at night. Bad dreams....boozing." Wait a minute! Ginny wasn't drinking that was Hermione. His head began to pound as he couldn't straighten anything out. Draco sat for several moments trying to figure out why when he tried to think of the woman he had been sent her to help his thoughts kept drifting to Hermione. "She was the only woman that never pinned me as a Malfoy. She took the time to see the real me without all that stupid social stigma. I should have her, not him. He doesn't deserve her. She's strong, but that doesn't mean she doesn't want to be taken care of. To even know she's loved! What does he have that I don't!"

^___^

Ginny felt nauseated as scenes from her dream flashed before her eyes. She couldn't help but to become aroused as it played out and now she was horrified at her body for enjoying the images, knowing how it would end. She knew that as she climaxed it wouldn't be from the man that she had started out with. Could it be that she was just looking so hard for an answer to Harry being missing that she was willing to replace him with anyone?

"Why him? Why Voldemort?" Several voices rang out in protest around the room as some of the portraits had only ever lived in the age of fear. They didn't know that he was gone now. That for six peaceful years, no one had to fear returning home at night and finding the Dark mark above thier house. Their loved ones couldn't be kidnapped and killed by Death Eaters anymore_. But yours has. They stole him and you'll never get him back._ Ginny put both hands to the side of her head and screamed into the empty room. Several more angry protests called out the late hour but Ginny ignored them all as she began to cry.

"It meant nothing. It was just a dream. He doesn't have Harry." She wiped her tears away, refusing to let another one fall for Voldemorts sake. He had already caused her to cry too many tears for her to allow his memory to have any more. "I felt Harry start bleeding and it just interfered with my dream which otherwise was very nice." She smiled as she remembered how it had begun but quickly frowned as she remembered that it had been a long time since she had enjoyed Harry that way. "I thought of Voldemort because..."

_"Voldemort put a bit of himself in me?"_ Harry's voice echoed inside Ginny's head and she slammed it into her palms to try to quiet him.

"It's a lie, Harry. He's not in there." She was trying to convince her love that was miles away at home as much as she was trying to convince herself. "Why was that the memory that had to stay in my dreams? With all you told me I could have had wonderful dreams of our time together, or even a less damaging dream of you saving me in the chamber. Why him? Why won't he leave us alone, Harry?"

_"Voldemort....leave her out of this....you want me? Take me! Just leave her alone....Ginny. NO!" _For the first time since she had heard it last night, Ginny tried to place this bit of conversation. She could not think of a single time that she had been anywhere near the actual Voldemort. But she must have...she had been at the final battle hadn't she? Where else would she have been? The entire D.A. was there. So why couldn't she remember the fear, the blood, the pain. She couldn't even picture Voldemort himself and he must have been an awesome sight. Certainly not something that you'd forget. And watching Harry defeat the greatest wizard of all time? Shouldn't that be one of the highlights of her short life? She only drew a white blank when she tried to remember anything from the battle. "Somethings happened..." her mind didn't know what it meant, but her lips knew they spoke the truth.

^___^

Draco sat on the edge of the bed reeling. Nothing made any sense to him anymore except the fact that he was in love with one of the girls that he currently shared a roof with. Weasley didn't deserve Hermione. He slammed his head into the wall behind him. And you think you do? Draco had been raised in a military type family and he knew that the only logical plan was to form a plan of attack. He had been called here to try and bring Harry out of his ass. Ginny was willing to do anything to get Harry back. From a military standpoint, that one looked like a losing battle. He wasn't going to be able to do anything for Ginny, but Hermione was just waiting to be rescued. He wondered if that wasn't the real reason that he had been brought here. He thought of her sitting in her room trying to comfort Ron and he became outraged at the thought. He knew that they were fighting and it seemed that things were only getting worse if she was willing to get drunk to forget. That was unstable ground. It would be easy to blow that one apart. He smiled as a plan began to form in his mind and he was scared at how far he was willing to go to break those two apart. He'd have to work hard to help Ginny and Harry, but he was going to be greatly rewarded for it.

^___^

Ginny spun in her chair, smearing the room in a cascade of light until she was dizzy. Finally coming to a halt she layed her spinning head down on top of her crossed arms on her desk and waited for the inertia to cease. Even as her eyes caught up with their sockets, her mind continued to swirl as not one single thought came into clear focus. She hated her brain right now for thinking the things it had been. She wasn't afraid of Harry. He was never anything but kind and gentle. Whoever that was in her room, it wasn't Harry. Not her Harry. Could she bring herself to marry the body hoping that the mind was still inside?

He had been so sweet to her in the beginning, holding her tightly and playing with her hair. She missed how he used to call her his 'baby-girl'. She missed the look in his eyes when he would search her soul. The slight smile that he would give as he leaned in to kiss her lips. She smiled at the thought of his soft lips and wished that she could kiss them now. She closed her eyes and watched him crawl through the portrait hole into the common room after they had won the Quidditch cup and how his eyes had searched her out. She ran to him again in her mind as he pulled her unexpectedly tighter into their hug before latching onto her bottom lip. He had been so gentle and yet dominated her just enough to make her feel safe and appreciated. She had hoped all year that he liked her, more like all her life, and in that one bold effort in front of God and everyone he took the leap in assuming that she liked him back and put it all on the line. She always melted at his courage and confidence. He never questioned what might happen before taking a leap if it meant protecting a friend or saving a life. He had hardly ever even spoken to her when he risked life and limb to save her in the Chamber. She had always thought that it was just for her, not for glory. That's the type of man she always saw Harry as.

She thought over all that he had played out in their bedroom. He had said he loved her. Always loved her, and that it was natural to want to protect her. She had never realized that when she had been caught by him and Ron that Harry was holding back his own rage as he held back Ron. It made her squirm with giddyness as she thought of Harry being jealous over her.

She had never been so loved and so hurt by the same person in her entire life. Was he worth all of this pain? What if her Harry never came back? Was it possible to love the man that he had become, knowing the man he used to be?

"No." She was startled at her voice as for the second time her lips spoke a truth she hadn't thought of, but this time her mind knew that her lips had to be wrong. "He is so worth loving! He's in there. I know it. Hermione's right. This plan will work." She buried her head deeper into her hands. "Please, God, let Hermione's plan work."

----------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 16 Teaser

"This isn't freebie porno hour, Miss Weasley. I showed you mine now you show me yours."

Ginny wasn't quiet as eager to share as she was to hear. But it was only fair. Tit for tat. But her first tat wasn't something she was exactly proud of. "OK...but you have to swear that you won't tell Harry. Ever."


	16. A little girl talk

CHAPTER SIXTEEN A LITTLE GIRL TALK

Ginny arrived at home just as the sun came up. As she walked in the door, she realized instantly that she wasn't the only one still up. She walked towards the smell of fresh ground coffee permeating from the kitchen and found a disheveled Hermione chugging a steaming cup at the kitchen table. "Alright there, 'Mione?"

She was greeted by a jump as Hermione knocked over her cup, now empty, and shattered it on the floor. "I didn't know anyone else was up." Hermione said.

"God, 'Mione, you look awful." She did indeed. Her hair was as bushy as ever and her eyes were puffy and bloodshot. She squinted at the sunlight that crept through the open door and Ginny recognized a familiar odor of stale ale. "Hermione with a hangover? Call Ripleys'. I've now seen everything." She set her jacket down over the chair before sitting tenderly down on the chair trying to keep it from scrapping the floor. "What's with the boozing?"

Hermione wasted no time getting to the point. "It's that damn brother of yours." Ginny was surprised at the tone in her voice. " He's driving me crazy! I'm sure that you've noticed things aren't going well."

"No, I had no idea." Ginny lied. Badly.

Hermione rolled her eyes at her friend's lack of stealth. "Anyway, I just don't know what to do. You remember Lavender Brown?" She waited for a confirming nod. "Well a few weeks ago, Parvati Patil wrote me to tell me that while she and Lavender were going home, you knew they were a couple, right?" This time there was no nod as Ginny's eyebrows had disappeared into her hairline. "Well she writes and tells me that we had better watch our significant others because they had "caught up" on the platform before he had gotten on his train to come home."

" 'Caught up' like talked?"

"It sounded like more than that. I do know that they at least hugged. He _knows_how I feel about her and him and then I hear that he can't even keep his hands off her the first time they see each other. So then he finds a letter that I had kept from Viktor as a memory from school, right, I mean he was my first crush, and he tries to say that's the same thing. Viktor lives in _Bulgaria_. Lavender is down the street from us. Who is more likely to get cheated on, huh?" Ginny opened her mouth to answer before realizing that Hermione was very good at rhetorical questions. "_Then_he spends all day long accusing me of flirting with other guys and still being in love with Viktor, but he still expects me to want to have sex with him at the end of the night. It's not like he's so unbelievable that I can't live without it." Ginny cringed at these words. She did not want to even think about Ron having sex.

"Did he ever have....sex...(she almost gaged at the word)...with Lavender?"

"He claims they didn't." Hermione sounded uncertain if it was a lie. "He claims that I was his first, and to tell you the truth, I'd believe it. He had no idea what he was doing."

"Oh, and you did?" Ginny laughed.

"Well...."

"Ron wasn't your first?"

"Not exactly. Come on though, how could I have known that he would ever admit that he liked me?"

"So you and Viktor..." Ginny was shocked at the interruption.

"Not...Viktor. I never had sex with Viktor." Hermione suddenly became very interested in the wood grain of the table.

The conversation had just become much more comfortable for Ginny. Anything to not talk about Ron in the sac. "So, details, I want details. Who was your first? Anyone I know?" Ginny turned suddenly at a noise in the hall but as the door remained closed she ignored it.

"Someone...from school." Hermione began tentatively.

"Do you not want to name names because he was that bad or that good that you want to keep him for yourself?" Ginny laughed as she pulled her chair up closer to the table.

"No, it's not that. It was my fifth year and everyone was getting curious. Talk was going around and...a friend and I decided that we'd help each other out, just to know what it was all about."

"So, was it any good?"

"It was both of our first times, what do you think? It was awkward, there was a lot of laughing, and it hurt."

"So he sucked." This story was quickly losing Ginny's interest.

"Now, I wouldn't say that, we just didn't really know what to do or what to expect. For a first time, it was good. He was gentle and slow and I think it helped that we both didn't know what to expect cause I'm not sure that I even let him get all the way in."

"So, he was at least equipped?" Interest back.

"Yeah...I guess so. Bigger than some people. To be fair Ron had a lot to compete with since he wasn't my first. Or second.."

"Hermione! I never would have taken you for a slut. Was he even yo€ur third?"

"Yes! I'm not Cho Chang for crying out loud. Let's just say that after that, by the time Ron was in the picture, I didn't have any trouble fitting him in. Rumor has it, at least from Penelope Clearwater, be thankful that you're a Weasley woman." She winked knowingly at Ginny's shocked look. "Don't get me wrong, Ron knows what he's doing now that he's been trained up a bit. Ginny get over yourself," she scolded to her continued grimace, "you didn't think he was going to be a virgin forever did you?"

"OK. Enough brotherly sex talk. How 'bout more details."

"There's not really anything else to say. Two fifteen year olds experimented in the Room of Requirement before a D.A. meeting. That's about it."

"Your boring me. Move on. How 'bout Mr. lucky number two?" At this, Hermione held up a hand in protest.

"This isn't freebie porno hour, Miss Weasley. I showed you mine now you show me yours."

Ginny wasn't quite as eager to share as she was to hear. But it was only fair. Tit for tat. But her first tat wasn't something she was exactly proud of. "OK...but you have to swear that you won't tell Harry. Ever."

Hermione nearly choked on her second cup of coffee. "It wasn't Harry?!" She sat up straight and set her cup down to give Ginny her full attention. "This is gonna be good."

"Well, it was at school too. The Room of Requirement came in handy more than once."

"So how many guys found you in the room?"

"It was just one, keep your pants on. Oh wait, you can't do that." Hermione threw her cup at Ginny but she was still smiling. "There's nothing much to tell, same as yours. We'd been dating for a while and one thing led to another like they always do. It was my first, but not his so he knew what he was doing even if I didn't. And yeah, it hurt, the first time. He already had experience so he wasn't exactly soft, but I'm glad that I got some practice in before Harry. He was a little more than I expected and I don't think I would have been able to do it again if he had been my first."

"I know!" Hermione paused at Ginny's questioning look. "I mean, getting the painful one out of the way before you're with your spouse so the first time with them is good... So, did Harry have any experience?" She spilled out in one run on sentence.

"He had to have. No one has that kind of born talent." Hermione snorted into her cup. "I'm sure him and Cho hit it in fifth year."

"He told you he had sex with Cho?!" Hermione's face was turning red.

"Well he never said her name, but I'd rather not confirm that Harry's been covered in essence of Cho."

"Well, if it makes it easier for you to kiss him at night, I can guarentee you that Harry and Cho never had sex. In fact, they never did anything more than kiss. Once. And he wasn't even that impressed."

Ginny was taken back at her friend's reaction. "You don't have to defend Harry you know. I was going to marry him even thinking he had been with her, but thanks for easing my mind. Maybe I can cancel my STD tests." She started to laugh, but Hermione just nibbled on a cracker that she had summoned from the cupboard.

Several silent seconds crept by. "So..." Hermione tried to break the silence through her cracker. "How old were you when you lost your virginity?"

"Oh, it was my fifth year too."

"Dean?!"

"No. It was after him, but before Harry. Enough about me. It's your turn again. When was your second?"

"It was my sixth year. Men in general were just pissing me off, especially your brother, and I found a listening ear and shoulder to cry on. In March, when Harry and Ron were both in hospital and I had all this time to spend with him, things got a little more serious between us and...well. Like you said, one thing led to another."

"So...was the second time around better?"

"I don't want to say better, but it was definatly easier. Both of us had experience so it wasn't as awkward and it was because we had feelings for each other, not just because we were friends so there was a lot of things that made it more like real sex, you know."

"Was he hot?"

"Are you kidding me? You think I'd just go with anyone?"

"Well, you are sleeping with my brother." Ginny made gagging noises as she poked her finger into her mouth.

"Your brother is cute. You just don't see him the way that I do."

"And that's a good thing. Because that would be illegal."

"Shut up. Yeah he was cute. OK, he was really cute." Hermione began to blush slightly.

"Who?"

"I'm not gonna tell you that. He's not exactly someone that I'd openly admit that I slept with. It's kind of a Romeo and Juliet type relationship."

"You both wanted to drink poison after sleeping with each other?" Ginny asked.

"No, you dork. It was more like we shouldn't be together because our houses are kind of enemy's you know."

"So he wasn't a Gryffindor? So what, neither was mine. It's not like we didn't have classes with other houses. There was a shit load of cute Hufflepuffs. I personally wouldn't have declined if Cedric Diggory had asked me to meet him in a broom cupboard. Besides look at your choices from Gryffindor. I don't know about you, but Seamus Finnagin and Neville Longbottom says it all for me. Harry was sort of a diamond in the rough for Gryffindor I think."

"That's only because your hitting that."

"Oh admit it Hermione, you think Harry is hot. You're just jealous that I'm sleeping with Harry and you're stuck with Ron."

"I'm not stuck with anything." Hermione sounded almost offended at this and several more seconds ticked by as Hermione finished her cracker.

"What do you remember most about your first?" Ginny finally asked trying to break the tension. "I mean, besides that it hurt, that's a given."

A smile crept across her lips before Hermione answered. "That he was gentle. We took our time, because we were both so nervous, but he never rushed me, never acted like I was just a piece of ass. It was probably one of the only times I've had sex that I didn't just feel like a pussy."

"I know what you mean. Almost every time with Harry is like that." Both women sat quietly smiling.

"You're a lucky woman, Gin. I hope you know how much he's done for you."

Ginny had spent all night thinking over Harry and she knew. Deep down, she knew that he would do anything for her.

"What do you remember about your first?" Hermione saw that she was losing Ginny.

"I was scared. I knew I wasn't his first so I was scared that I wouldn't be good enough. I was scared because I heard it would hurt. I was scared that people would find out. That's what I remember most."

"Was he cute?" Hermione asked and now it was Ginny's turn to blush.

After several moments she finally answered. "Yeah. He was. I remember that he had the cutest little dimple." She blushed even more. "It was somewhere that you couldn't see with his pants on, let's just say. He was built too. More then you could tell under those stupid school robes. I remember being surprised that he had a tattoo."

" A viper on the inside of his right thigh?" Hermione had become suddenly very serious and sat up straight.

"Yeah...how did you... You slept with Draco Malfoy?! When?"

"The begining of March my sixth year. You?

"End of March, same year, but we'd been dating for like two months before that!"

"How did you keep that a secret? It was nearly impossible for me to find time to be with him with Harry obsessing over him with that stupid map. I had to only see him when Harry was sleeping or playing Quidditch or in detention."

"What map?" Ginny asked.

"He has this map that Fred and George gave him that lets him see where everyone is in the school at any time. He obsessed over it in sixth year always watching Draco because he was sure that he was doing something for Voldemort. I tried time and time again to convince him to stop obsessing so that it would be easier to see Draco, but he wouldn't listen to me."

Ginny's eyes became very wide. "He could see anyone? Anywhere?! How can something like that be legal?"

"Well he must have always missed you too because he never said anything like that to me, but trust me when I say you must have been touched by an angel to get away with hanging around Draco that year. We always met in Hogsmead or the Room of Requirement."

"Yeah, us too. That fucker." Ginny shivered as she began to feel dirty.

Suddenly there was a scuffle of shoes outside the kitchen door. Hermione picked up her wand from the table and aimed it out the door. "Incarcerous!" A rope shot out of the end of her wand and tightened around it's target like a long fishing line. Hermione tugged hard on the rope and into the room fell face first just the boy that both girls wanted to see. She stood up to cross the room, joined by Ginny, to stand cross armed looking down on the bound boy. "Well, good morning, Mr. Malfoy. Enjoying the show? I bet you knew long before we did that you were the star. Or did you think that we would never catch on to the fact that you played us both like a damn fiddle? 'I'm so alone.'" Hermione mimicked his voice.

"'No one understands me'". Ginny piped in in her best Draco imitation.

"How many other girls got that same sob story? Couldn't have been too lonely when you had two woman in your bed. Oh, you're good, Draco. I actually felt sorry for you."

"Like I'm the only one that ever kept a secret?" Draco stated as he closed his eyes and vanished the ropes so that he could stand. He recomposed himself and loomed over top of Hermione who looked down at the floor guiltily. He crossed to sit down at the table and propped his feet up as if preparing to watch a good show. "Why don't you tell Ginny about how you were a little dick-jocky in school, hmm? About how I wasn't the one to pop your cherry?"

"Cute mouth, Draco. I already know that , and besides, Hermione isn't the one on trial here." Ginny stood firm as she looked over to smile at Hermione in support. Hermione didn't return the smile.

"Three words from me and I would be the least guilty person in this house." Draco said. Hermione jumped forward a little as if to go stop him from talking, but held herself back when Draco smiled slyly at her.

"You're a weasel, Malfoy. You'd rat someone out just to save your own ass?" Even before the words were out of her mouth Hermione was receiving two sets of "well duh" stares. "I thought you had changed is all." Hermione said trying to make herself look less foolish.

"OK, one of you better tell me what's going on here 'cause this is getting really old." Ginny began to look back and forth between Hermione's guilty face and Draco's sickening smirk. "Hermione, you know there's not anything you could tell me that would make me hate you. You're my best friend. Besides, you told me the truth about sleeping with dick-face here so what could possibly be any worse than that."

Hermione looked down at the floor before she shook her head. "I can't do that to you Gin. It can't be me that tells you what happened that night. I can't do that to you." She started to walk slowly to the door as she wiped a tear away from her cheek.

Draco stood and cleared his throat. "Hermione-fucked-Harry." He sat and propped his feet back up on the table and summoned a bottle of beer from the fridge.

----------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 17 Teaser

"This is not a truce, this is not an apology, this is a chance for you to give your side of the story." Ginny sat across from Hermione at the table and waved her hand in a flippant way. "Go."


	17. Ginvera's Revenge

**AN: I have recenty received a review that worried about the violence and abuse shown in this story. I have not meant to offend in any sense, however, I will now be posting abuse warnings at the top of the chapters that include anything that can be taken as abuse. This chapter is one of those that they were concerned about. **

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN GINERVA'S REVENGE

"WHAT?!" Screamed Ginny at Hermione.

"WHAT?!" Hermione screamed at Draco.

"You're 'friend from school' was Harry?"

"THAT'S the secret you were talking about?"

"Hermione, I'm talking to you, bitch! You'd better answer me, now." Ginny screamed over top of Draco's laughter.

"Ginny, I'm sorry." She tried to cross to embrace her friend but she was pushed roughly away. "Let me explain. We didn't ever tell you because it wasn't a big deal. It was before he was with you. Before he was even interested in you. It was nothing I swear."

Ginny stood staring at her for nearly a minute, the fury building in her eyes. Much to the surprise of everyone in the room, Ginny reached up and backhanded Hermione across the face. "Just so you're not confused, that wasn't for sleeping with Harry. That was for lying to me about it." She left the room and slammed the kitchen door. Ginny's slap still echoed off the stone kitchen walls.

"How could you do that, Draco? How do you know anyways? You're supposed to be helping her, not hurting her even more." Hermione wiped the blood off of her lip and spit even more out onto the floor.

Draco took one long swig of his beer and examined the remaining liquid in the bottle before answering. "She's not upset with me anymore now, is she? I can't have Ginny upset with me if she's going to trust me. As for how I knew. I didn't. I just knew that you weren't a virgin so I took a guess. Pretty good, huh? Now I've a bigger ally in her by turning you in. It will help the plan if she trusts me, which is what you were trying to discredit. I had to act before you ruined everything I was here for." He finished off his beer in one gulp and stood to leave the room. "You really fucked Potter? God Hermione, if you were desperate I could have lent you Pansy. Even she has more of a dick than Potter." He began to laugh as he left the room leaving Hermione alone.

^___^

Ginny flung open the bedroom door and saw that Harry was awake and leaning up against the headboard. He looked confused for only a minute but looked directly into her eyes as he asked, "Ginny? You alright?"

"Harry." Her voice sounded much to formal for a fiance. "Do you know where you are?"

Harry looked around the bedroom before replying. "This is our bedroom right?"

"And you know what year this is?" She started to tap her foot lightly on the carpeted floor.

"Ginny, what are you on about? What's going on?" Harry stood as if to walk over to her but Ginny met him halfway across the room.

"Just wanted to make sure you knew what was going on when I gave you this." She grabbed him firmly by the shoulders and raised a knee directly into Harry's crotch, dropping him coughing to the floor. "When were you thinking about telling me about Hermione? The day after our wedding?"

Harry spit on the floor before looking up from his kneeling position. "What...(cough)...are you talking about?"

"Harry James Potter! Don't even fucking act stupid right now. You know what I'm talking about. You don't have to pretend anymore. Draco told me everything."

Harry sat stunned for several moments. He had no idea what she was even talking about, but he didn't dare tell her that. He felt his boys throbbing with every beat of his heart and panicked slightly when he could only find one. He grimaced in pain as he tried to stand up, but realized that it was impossible as he started to black out if he tried to move.

"Say something, damnit." Ginny loomed over him and he risked removing one of his hands from his nads to shield his head. "Is that why you rejected me the other night? I'm not as good as Hermione or something, is that it? Do you see her every time you kiss me? Answer me, Harry!"

Harry still wasn't sure exactly what she was talking about but couldn't risk staying silent any longer. "I'm sorry, Ginny. I never would have done it if I knew that it would hurt you."

Ginny took a few moments to think over his peace offering before deepening her scowl. "You don't even know what I'm mad at you for, do you? You're just trying to pull your nuts out of the fire." Harry cringed at the word 'nuts'. "So what this is telling me is that you don't find sex meaningful. Even worth remembering. Is that how you feel about ours? Do you even remember having sex with me? Am I just vagina number 602?"

"It was just friends." Harry said, realization dawning on him. "It was way before you were even in the picture. Back when I thought that I might still have a chance with Hermione."

"So I'm just your silver medal? Runner up to Hermione Granger, your woman of choice." Harry reached up with his free hand to rub the side of Ginny's leg but he was sharply kicked away. "Don't pleasure yourself to me." Ginny said, refrencing that one of his hands was still perma-glued to his groin.

"Oh God, I wish I could." Harry whimpered.

"You know, I can't believe that you lied to me."

"I never said I didn't. You knew I wasn't a virgin."

"Excuse me? Are you trying to justify your lies? Just don't talk. Listen. Is she who you'd rather be with? Is she the one that your holding out for? You're only dead because you can't really love me. I spent all night justifying everything that I put up with for you, and then bragged about you to Hermione only to find out that she already knew. When she told me that she knew you better than anyone I didn't think she meant literally. If you don't love me, all you had to do was say so, not send Draco to tell me. You can't even say you love me?"

"You told me not to talk..."

"Shut-up! I don't want to even see you right now." She turned to storm out of the room. "You know, I was scared for you last night. I was afraid I'd never get you back. Now I realize I never had you at all." She opened the door and backed out of the room as she pulled the door shut slowly in front of her.

"Little hard on the little fuck, weren't you?" Came a familiar drawl.

"You know Draco that eavesdropping is beneath even scum like you." She turned to face him and tried to push through his broad stance. "Get out of my way, Draco."

"I'd hate to see you waste your energy walking down the stairs when you realize that you'll be walking right back up to apologize in less than a minute."

"Apologize?! For what?"

"Why do woman think that they are above the law? That they can do no wrong? Are you forgetting that you've wronged him in the same way as he's wronged you? That there's a little jiz in your past that doesn't carry Potter DNA?"

"Draco, why do you have to be so perverted? Besides thats...different." Ginny was stopped by the glare coming from the steel grey eyes.

"You should turn around, go back in that bedroom, and tell Harry about us. About how not once, or twice, you enjoyed a real orgasm at another mans hands. Make sure to drop my name, Draco Malfoy, several times and why don't you moan it a bit like you used to do for me." He laughed at the feeble punch that Ginny layed into his arm. "Waste your effort on Harry's dick? Wouldn't be the first time you did that, now would it? As much as I love the fact that you may now be available for a reenactment in the kitchen, I just can't let you hate Harry when he didn't even do anything wrong. Don't think I've gone soft," He said at the curious look in Ginny's eyes. "It's just that...well...I want you to be happy and for some reason that I'll never understand, Harry makes you happy. Now go reattach his penis and tell him what you came home to tell him in the first place." Draco gave Ginny a reassuring pat on the arm and turned her around to face the closed door. "Oh," He said from the top of the stairs as he retreated, "then go down to the basement and apologize to Hermione. It's not her fault that she was curious. I'm sure every girl at Hogwarts was curious about Harry's sexuality. I knew a few guys that were."

Ginny stared at the door for several moments before making her decision. She wasn't going to apologize. He deserved everything she said and besides, apologizing would be admitting that she had done something wrong. Maybe it would do him some good to know that she was upset with him. He might realize that she's not just going to always wait around for him. She did feel OK with talking to Hermione, however, she only wanted to hear her explanation so she turned sharply to walk down the stairs towards the kitchen.

Ginny flung open the door and took Hermione completely off guard."Ginny. I didn't know you'd be...I thought you might..." She stumbled into a chair as badly as she stumbled over her words.

"This is not a truce, this is not an apology, this is a chance for you to give your side of the story." Ginny sat across from Hermione at the table and waved her hand in a flippant way. "Go."

"I'm not gonna say that what we did was wrong, Ginny. It was years before you and we had no way of knowing that one day you would be in the picture. Or that we'd even still be friends at this point. At that point, no one knew if we'd even be alive for the next year. You can understand all of that, right?"

"I understand English, Hermione. What I don't understand is how you could have been friends with me all this time, knowing that I had feelings for Harry before even he did, and not ever told me. I've heard what you did, I've heard how you did it. You both seem to think that you had good enough reasons for why you did it. Now I wanna know why you hid it from me."

"What was the point of telling you? It wasn't like there was old flames kindling or that we were still doing anything when you two got together. It would just cause you unnecessary pain, something I am not about giving you, and might have even kept you from being with Harry. It wasn't an accident, it wasn't something that I'm not proud of, I can't tell you that. I can't tell you that it didn't mean something to me either. Harry will always be my friend and I will always love him as such. I'm glad that I could share such a special moment in my life with him because we had always shared so much, but I will say that I'm sorry that it took away from you. I never meant to hurt anyone by it. And I'm sorry you had to find out this way, not that I hid it. I would have taken it to my grave to make sure that you never had to feel betrayed." Hermione looked over at her friend, her eyes swimming with forming tears and smiled hopefully.

"I just would have expected more of a true friend is all. You had very noble intentions, miss Granger, but you seem to have failed in your objective. Don't you think that it would have hurt less to hear these things back at school, before Harry and I were engaged? Before I had suffered this long next to his side to only feel betrayed by him now. I never told you this, but I've always been very jealous of you, Hermione. It all came so easy to you. Harry adored you and you didn't even have to try. You spent year after year by his side and I would have killed to be you. Now I find that you even got Harry's first time. He'll always have a place for you in his thoughts and now I have to wonder if he sees you when he closes his eyes. If he's comparing me to you like I always feared he would do. That's what I hate most about this. Not that you did it, not that you lied. Now in my mind I have to live up to you or risk losing him. I couldn't compete with you in school, what makes you think I can win now?"

Hermione sat stunned at this revelation, her jaw dropped in disbelief. "You were..jealous? Of me?" She stuttered as she watched her friend walk to the door. "Ginny..." she uttered as the door was swung open. "Harry loves you..." Ginny closed the door behind her. "You've already won."

**_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-**

**Chapter 18 Teaser**

Draco watched from the corner of the staircase until Ginny entered into the kitchen before making his way back up the stairs. Now was as good a time as any to put his plan into action as Ron would be alone for at least half an hour while the girls worked things out. When he reached the door to the room the Weasley's shared he took a deep breath before flinging it roughly open. He flung the door shut and pinned his back against the door and stared at Ron's shocked look, biting his lip to keep from laughing.


	18. A deceitful Malfoy

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN A DECEITFUL MALFOY

**AN: This is truly some of my favorite Draco moments. He's one of my favorite characters to write. Please tell me what you think of his 'plan'. **

Draco watched from the corner of the staircase until Ginny entered into the kitchen before making his way back up the stairs. Now was as good a time as any to put his plan into action as Ron would be alone for at least half an hour while the girls worked things out. When he reached the door to the room the Weasley's shared he took a deep breath before flinging it roughly open. He flung the door shut and pinned his back against the door and stared at Ron's shocked look, biting his lip to keep from laughing.

"Oh my God, I can't believe we're finally alone." Draco said as he flattened himself closer to the door.

"What the fuck are you talking about Malfoy? What are you doing in here?" Ron crossed the room to push Draco out the door but he was stopped short when Draco met him on his way.

"I can't tell you how long I've been waiting for this." Draco crooned into Ron's ear causing him to back away quickly and stumble over onto the bed. "Jumping right to the point, I like that." Draco said as he crossed the room, unbuttoning his shirt as he walked.

"Oh my God, you're GAY!!" Ron screamed as he jumped up onto the bed clutching at the blankets trying to protect himself from any of Draco's protruding limbs.

"You're not?!?" Draco looked taken aback as he pulled his shirt closed around himself in embarrasement. "But I thought...well earlier in the kitchen, Hermione told me that you were experimenting. That's why she came to me to see if I might be open to helping you figure it out."

"You punched me in the stomach! You thought that would make me interested?"

"Well no, but you attacked me first. I just thought that you were embarrassed that she talked to me about it and didn't want her to know is all. I thought that we were going to keep it a secret."

"Keep it a secret? You thought I'd be attracted to you? You've always been such a dick to me! You've called me an asshole for the last twelve years of my life!" Ron shook his head. "Besides the fact that I'm not gay!"

"You didn't get the reference? I was a dick, you were the asshole. I was trying to hint to you that I was into that too! I've wanted you since first year, I just never had the courage to tell you until Hermione told me that you were interested."

"Why would she say something like that! I'm not...I've never...where is she?" Ron started to get up but realized it would open himself up to advances and sat back down.

"She's down in the kitchen talking to Ginny. We sort of had this idea that if you were going to try it, she might think about trying it too, you know."

"With GINNY?! What about Harry?"

"Are you kidding me? Harry's been bi-sexual for years now. I've heard he even attempted a little tri action in his sixth year."

"What do you mean? No. I don't want to now. Listen, I have nothing against...you people....I'm just not a member of your club. So if you wouldn't mind letting me up, I'd like to go have a little chat with my female wife."

"Oh, not a problem. I just don't know if I'd interrupt them right now. I'm pretty sure they thought you'd say yes so I'm not sure you want to know what I heard on my way up here."

"Oh my God." Ron said, looking as if he was about to puke.

Draco turned as if to leave the room but turned around just as he reached the door. "Are you sure that you don't want to just at least try? I mean, how can you know for sure if you don't experiment a little." He ducked as Ron's shoe nearly hit his head. "Just thought I'd ask. Well, if you ever change your mind, you know where I'm sleeping." He blew a kiss to Ron who pulled the blanket up like a shield before walking out the door.

As he entered the hallway he had to stifle a laugh. "This is gonna be way too easy." Draco said. He heard a door to his right creak open and looked up to see Harry standing, not quite straight up, in his rooms doorway. "Morning fuck face. How's the balls?"

Harry cringed gingerly as he attempted to limp into the hallway before turning around to cross back to lay on the bed. Draco began to whistle a happy jig as he jumped down the stairs two at a time.

Draco started as he heard Ginny entered the hall but knew from the look on her face that now was not the time she wanted to see him. He ducked into a side hallway as he watched her pass out the front door before realizing that she hadn't been followed out of the kitchen. Hermione was alone in there now, probably upset and crying and she'd need someone to wipe away her tears. His fingers desperately wanted to be the ones to do so.

Draco knocked three times on the kitchen door as he slowly pushed it open. "Hermione, you OK?"

"What do you want now, Malfoy? Want to take another shot at me while I'm down?" She said as she wiped tears off her cheeks.

"Not exactly. I wanted to apologize."

Hermione looked at Draco with a deer caught in the headlights glaze. She had never expected for him to apologize for anything. He hadn't been dubbed the 'ice prince' in school for having a cheery disposition. "Come again." She said as she steadied herself against the chair in front of her.

"I got downstairs and realized that I had probably really hurt you."

"And you didn't invite people over for a party? Draco, your scaring me."

"I just meant that I had said some really hurtful things..."

"You called me a 'dick-jockey'." Hermione said matter-of-factually

Draco crossed and stood in front of the chair that Hermione so desperately clung to the back of.

"I've called you a lot of horrible things in the past and there's nothing that I can say that will ever make that right. I also owe you an apology for what I did back at school. I was young and naive. I can't excuse what I did, I just hope that one day you'll know how hard this really was for me to say." He put a hand on top of hers and gently pinned it between his hand and the chair. "And how much I want you to believe that I mean it."

Hermione's eyes widened from shock. Not at the fact that Draco Malfoy was standing in the kitchen, a look of pure sincerity in his eyes, but that his touch made her feel an electric spark shoot up her spine.

"Listen, to show you how serious I am, I've decided that I'm gonna not only going to help out with Harry and Ginny, I'll help you out with anything that you might want help with." He said with a knowing look in his eyes. Hermione realized that she had let her hand linger for far too long and pulled it roughly away without the slightest bit of force from Draco to keep her there. "First, I've made a very firm realization. Your plan's already failed. It's not gonna work."

"The best way to help me out right now is not to tear apart everything that I've thought out. Of course it will work. Look what happened when she made him mad. She can make him so jealous with you that he'll realize he loves her."

"Hermione, the strongest of all emotions is love." He looked deep into her eyes and hoped that she could see what he was really trying to say to her. "If he can't feel that first, then it's not going to work. It's just going to make her suffer. There's only one way to bring him around. We have to make them remember. The only way to heal wounds is to first recognize why they are there. You can't sew up a cut if there may be broken glass still inside."

"So what do you suggest?" She asked, suddenly intrigued at the new caring side she was seeing in him.

Draco pulled a folded letter out of his pocket and held it up between his first two fingers. "I've got a plan."

"What is that?" Hermione asked thoroughly confused.

"The answer to your prayers." Draco said looking over at his held up hand.

"Why would a letter know what I prayed for?"

"Oh you meant the letter? I thought you were talking about my fingers." Draco smirked as he handed the letter over to Hermione who was wearing a slight scowl.

"Same old Draco after all? Well at least I don't have to wonder if you've been possessed." Hermione laughed as she opened the letter.

_Don't make any attempts to find out yourself. A shattered memory is harder to expell and you might do more damage than even I can fix. It's already a fragile mind, you can't afford to make mistakes. I'll do what I can, if I must, but he must come to me. _

**----------------------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 19 Teaser**

"Where are you going?" He asked, hoping he didn't sound too desperate.

"To talk to Harry. Don't you think it's best to do it now? I mean, what better way to make Ginny happy then to bring her Harry back."

"It's not like it's a magical cure, 'Mione." They both exchanged shocked expressions at his use of her nickname. "I mean, it's going to take some time. If you want to fix things with Ginny, I think that's gonna have to be my department. I'm the reason you're in that mess, I'll do what it takes to get you out of it. I'll go talk to Ginny, you go talk to Harry, and we'll meet in the middle for some lunch. Break."


	19. A little friendly intervention

CHAPTER NINETEEN A LITTLE FRIENDLY INTERVENTION

"There's no signature. Why is this the answer to my prayers?" Hermione asked as she handed the letter back to Draco's outstretched palm. Her fingers brushed slightly across the soft skin of his overturned hand and she was sure that she blushed.

"One, because it's the way into Harry's head, and two, because it means we won't have to exert any more effort. It's from Snape."

"Professor Snape?"

"Do you know any others? Yeah, Professor Snape. We've stayed in touch seeing as how he is my godfather and really the only family I have left. I told him about Potter's situation and he said...well, you read the letter."

"Why is he willing to help Harry?"

"He's not. Trust me when I say it took quite a bit more than just one letter to get him to send those four sentences. He tried a few other things and when they failed, I brought up using Legilimency to try to find the memory stored in one of their subconsciousness. He told me that Ginny wasn't an option as most memory charms completely erase the event, especially when done by an amature..." he looked at Hermione accusingly, " but obviously he doesn't think that I'd be capable of finding it myself. He's probably right. I do not want to delve into Harry's sick and twisted mind anyway, but now comes the last problem we have to personally solve. How do we get Harry to go to Snape?"

This time it was Hermione's turn to grin. "Now I have the answer to your prayers." She sayed playfully.

"You are the answer to my prayers." Draco said quietly, and only slightly, playfully.

"The day that I arrived Harry told me that he had been having dreams, nightmares, about Ginny that he thought could possibly be prophecy. He was terrified that they would come true. All we have to do is tell him to go to Snape so that he can teach him how to tell the difference between dreams and prophecy or something like that and he'll go willingly to make sure that he's not seeing the future."

"You think it will be that easy?"

"You didn't see his face. He's terrified. I think it will be the easiest thing I've done all day." A smile had spread from one ear to the other and her eyes were practically dancing in their sockets. Draco noticed how much more beautiful she was when she was smiling and felt his heart begin to race at her goddess-like beauty. She stood to leave the room and Draco ached at the thought of losing his moment with her.

"Where are you going?" He asked, hoping he didn't sound too desperate.

"To talk to Harry. Don't you think it's best to do it now? I mean, what better way to make Ginny happy then to bring her Harry back."

"It's not like it's a magical cure, 'Mione." They both exchanged shocked expressions at his use of her nickname. "I mean, it's going to take some time. If you want to fix things with Ginny, I think that's gonna have to be my department. I'm the reason you're in that mess, I'll do what it takes to get you out of it. I'll go talk to Ginny, you go talk to Harry, and we'll meet in the middle for some lunch. Break."

Hermione sat for a second staring confused at him.

"It was a Quidditch joke. Never mind. Let's just go talk to them."

Hermione chuckled slightly at this new boy sitting in front of her. "I think I really misjudged you, Malfoy. I've missed this boy."

As she left him sitting in the room, he felt his heart lift. She had missed him.

As Hermione rounded the steps to the entrance hall to climb the steps to Harry's room, she was met by a very befuddled Ron who nearly knocked her off her feet as he pulled her roughly into the alcove off the hall.

"What are you doing telling Malfoy that I'm gay?!" He screamed through his whispered voice. His eyes were shifty as if waiting for an attack from someone.

"What are you on?' is the better question, Ron."

"He came onto me....in the bedroom. Said that you told him I was interested in 'experimenting'. He told me that you and Ginny were trying it out too in the kitchen."

Hermione stared wide eyed at her husband for several moments before trying to slide slowly out of the alcove and away from his insane ranting. "I can't believe you'd stoop so low, Ronald. You're actually trying to convince me that womanizer Malfoy was coming on to you? I know you're jealous that we used to date but it's not going to make me jealous thinking of you two getting intimate."

"No, Hermione. I'm serious." He tried to follow her as she walked briskly up the stairs. "He came in and was making all these remarks about how he loved me since first year and was so thankful we were finally alone."

"If you say so, Ron." Hermione waved a hand above her shoulder.

Just then Ron felt a pair of eyes burning into his back and turned nervously around to see Draco standing in the doorway to the kitchen, very obviously examining Ron's ass as he walked up the stairs. He raised an eyebrow before giving an approving nod as Ron's eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

"Hermione! He's doing it right now! Look. I told you." Hermione was at the top of the stairs and wouldn't even justify Ron's cries for help with a look.

"This is pathetic Ron. Really, I didn't think that you could sink any lower." She stopped in front of the door to Harry's room and knocked before entering without so much as a look behind her to Ron who was now nearly panicking on the stairs.

"What are you playing at, Malfoy? " Ron said as he turned to block his ass from the continued stares.

"Wouldn't you like to know, kitten." Draco stated before kissing at the air and turning to walk out the front door after Ginny's trail.

As he stepped out onto the porch, his search ended quiet abruptly as Ginny was still sitting on the bottom step.

"Oh sorry," he feigned surprise, "I didn't know any one was out here." He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his back pocket and held them up so she could see his motives. "Hermione would shit if she saw me smoking in the house." He pulled the last one out and crushed the pack firmly between his palm before pulling a lighter from his front pocket.

"It's my house, Draco."

"Oh, well then, I'll just leave you to your sitting." He turned to leave, the smoke billowing as he lit the end.

"I won't even let Ron smoke in my house. Put that thing out before you go in there." Ginny flung around as if outraged that he assumed she wouldn't mind.

"Well, if you don't mind company for a minute then." He took a long drag and closed his eyes as if the smoke now swirling around in his lungs was suducing him. He held it for several moments before finally letting his addiction escape, but only momentarily as he was soon inhaling another hit of seduction.

"That's gonna kill you, you know." Ginny said as if it was news that cigerettes were bad. "Life's too short as it is to...."

"Miss out on the simple pleasures." He said as he held up the smoldering hand held flame. "Now, I know that you wouldn't be wasting this kind of irritation on little old me, so who's got your panties in a twist, Weasley." The only reply he received was a glare of annoyance. "Is it this whole 'Hermione/Harry' thing? Come on now, you can't be still upset over that? You beat her up, you turned Harry into a woman, what else could make you feel any better? You know you've been waiting a long time to play kick-ball with Potter.

"If you don't leave me the fuck alone the game's gonna turn into a double-header." She stood as if to try to threaten Draco but he just took another hit off his cigarette.

"No need for violence." He took another drag before staring straight into her eyes. "This is me, Ginny. What's wrong?" She stared defiantly back at him, willing him to not see her pain, but knew that the only person to know her better than Draco was Harry.

"I always knew that Harry had had another woman in his life, but I thought it was Cho Chang. I mean, it's not exactly a secret that she was easy, even the girls knew they could hit that, so I didn't have to feel inferior. But knowing it was Hermione....you know how I felt at school, how jealous I was of her for being so close to Harry. Now every time he kisses me, he's gonna be thinking of her. She was his first. He's been comparing me to her every time we kiss and I can't help but think that if it was her that he was with, he wouldn't be so hollow. Maybe I should just let him have her." She was startled at the look he was giving her. It looked as if he had dragon dung under his nose. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I really thought that a graduate of Hogwarts had to be smarter than that. I think you should probably sue them for being able to think something that stupid."

"If you're just gonna make fun..." Ginny got up to go inside but Draco put out his hand to stop her. He took one final drag on his cigarette before putting it out on the cement of the steps.

"OK, I'm sorry, Gin. What makes you think that he's gonna be thinking about Hermione?"

"Because...wait did you just call her 'Hermione'?"

"Carrying on..." He said as he waved a hand impatiently, trying to obviously keep the attention off himself.

"What if he misses the way she does things? What if she was better? What if...?"

"What if, what if, what if'...did you ever think that maybe there was nothing to worry about? Why do you think that she could give him something that you can't? I can't believe that I'm gonna say this...especially since I just finished off my last cigarette and I'm gonna need one...but Harry loves you. He's going to marry you. He doesn't care that she was the first. Your going to be his last 'first'. That's the most amazing thing that he can imagine. That is, if he doesn't cheat on you." Ginny's eyes, which had been starting to tear over, snapped open and her eyebrows leapt to the top of her forehead. "Harry's not the type to cheat . He doesn't have it in him. I'm sorry. I just couldn't keep going on like that." He shook as if he had just tasted some really bitter medicine. "I'm gonna go scrape the filth off my tongue for talking good about Potter. If you'll excuse me, I need to induce vomiting."

"Draco. Umm...oh, never mind."

"No, what?"

"Well, it's just, you know."

"I know...what exactly?" He asked, a knowing smirk worthy of Salazar himself growing on his face.

"You know what both of us are like. Hermione and me. Is she....Merlin, this is embarrassing...better than me?"

His smirk melted into a reassuing smile. "I can't tell you that, Gin. Every person is different. Hermione and Harry had gotten together as friends to get the awkward one out of the way. They had done each other a favor that meant that when they found the ones they loved, they could have confidence and not be worried about the sex, but concentrate on the feelings." Draco took notice as Ginny looked down to the floor. "Hermione was prepared for how it would feel, what she should do, that sort of thing. While you on the other hand, had never been in that situation. Do you remember the first time we got together?"

"I was scared."

"I know. It was obvious. We went into the room of requirement, layed on the floor and then what?" He asked, prodding her to remember.

"Umm...I think we talked for awhile. Started to kiss. Then...did you start or did I?"

"You can't even remember our first time!?" Draco shouted incredulously in a falsetto tone. "How dare you use me like that. I feel so dirty." He pulled his shirt tight around his chest as if he had just been disrobed and gave another typical Malfoy smirk. "See what I mean? You can't remember all the details because they're not important to you anymore. It was a moment that happened in the past, you can't change it, and really why would you want to, but I bet you can detail out the first time that you and Harry made love." He rose his eyebrows in a knowing manner.

Ginny smiled as the memory washed over her, warming her to the very core of her soul. "It was right after we had moved in together..."

"Eww..no no no no NO!" Draco had closed his eyes and was shaking his head violently back and forth. "Keep it to yourself. But my point has been made. If you're worried that he compares you to Hermione still, you need to just prove to him that you're the best he'll ever have. Any thoughts to her will be purely in the negative if you knock his socks off."

" Oh, and how, prithee, am I supposed to do that?" Ginny wished she had a pen and paper as she was sure to receive some valuable information in the next few minutes.

^____^

"Hermione? What do you want?" Harry sat up on the bed shocked as he had expected Ginny to enter the bedroom. He reached for his glasses on the side table and slid them slowly onto his head, as he had been lying on the bed trying to figure out a way to apologize but only finding a migraine.

"We need to talk, if you have a second." she blushed as she realized, seconds before he did, that he didn't have his shirt on. She looked away as he realized her embarrassment and reached for his shirt, pulling it on quickly without realizing it was inside out until it was on.

"You look good. I mean, you look better than you did yesterday...how's your head?" She looked behind her at the half open door and hoped that Ginny would remain wherever she was ranting and not get the wrong idea. She pushed the door completely open just in case she did come in early.

"Pounding. Why does everyone keep talking about yesterday? It wasn't that big a deal."

"Do you remember yesterday, Harry? Ron beat you pretty bad and it was hours before we knew if you would bleed to death or not. You don't remember?" She didn't even wait for an answer. "Well of course you wouldn't, I mean you didn't even know where you were or what year it was." Harry just stared at Hermione like she was the one that was off her rocker. "Anyway, I'm not here to talk about yesterday, I wanted to talk about today. Ginny's upset."

Harry winced slightly as he stood at the side of the bed. "I think I caught that."

Hermione sat for several moments chewing on the end of her hair trying to avoid Harry's stare. "You don't think...what we did was...wrong, do you?" She finally got the courage to ask.

It took Harry nearly a minute to answer. "No. I don't think it was wrong. Perhaps I should have told her, but I just didn't think it was important."

"Neither did I," Hermione replied. "It's got her pretty upset though, so I guess I was wrong. What are we gonna do Harry? I think it's pretty serious."

Harry's eyes sparked as he looked at his friend. "Serious? You don't think she'd hurt herself over this do you?"

Hermione inwardly smiled as she knew her plan was coming into fruition. "I don't know, but she did leave the house a minute ago looking very hurt. Who knows what she might be doing. Harry, I'm scared. What if this is what sets her off? What if your dream really was prophecy?" Hermione hit the exact nerve she was digging for as Harry's face began to definitely distort into a look of morbid fear.

"What should we do, Hermione? I have to go find her."

"I've sent Draco to go look for her so I'm sure it won't be long until he does. What we need to do is find out how serious of a threat this really is. Has Ginny ever shown any signs of wanting to cut or tried to cut before?" Each time she came to the word 'cut', she made sure to emphasise to watch the little twitch that it caused Harry to give.

"No. Not that I've noticed, anyway. What are we gonna do Hermione? I can't lose her."

Hermione sat for a minute as if frozen by the words. He really did love her, didn't he? Why the hell couldn't he show her then? Hermione felt a twinge of guilt as she realized the next words she uttered would lead to her guilt being revealed. Whatever it takes to make Harry whole again, she thought. "Harry, do you remember in fifth year when you had those nightmares about the Ministry?" Hermione noticed that once those words would bring a pang of guilt and sadness to Harry's jade eyes, but now there was not even a change. The intensity of the situation hit her at the emptiness in his eyes and she threw herself at the mercy of the court and plunged forward.

"You remember what Dumbledore had you do to block it out? Well what if there was a way to see if it was really prophecy, kinda like last time, or find out if it was only a dream? Would you be willing to find out?"

"I just want to know that Ginny's safe. Whatever it takes."

"Well, Harry, Draco says that he's talked to Professor Snape and he'd be willing to..."

"Snape? No Hermione, new plan." Harry turned to go back to the bed where he sat down and stared at Hermione waiting for her characteristic idea to reveal itself. Hermione crossed and sat down on the edge of the bed, as far from Harry as she could get, and sighed. This wasn't going to be as easy as she thought. Or was it?

"Harry, Professor Snape has changed. You know it. He did so much for us near the final battle and you know he was just following orders from Dumbledore when he...did what he had to do. People have changed a lot now that Voldemort is gone Harry. You're living proof of that." She almost chocked on her tongue as she remembered the gravity of what she just said. She tried to change the focus. "Look at Draco. He was a mortal enemy from the day you two met and look how he's...well, he's here isn't he?"

"That's not very convincing, 'Mione. You know that Snape still hates me. Draco still does. Wars don't make people just suddenly get along."

"Harry, I'm not going to beat around the bush on this one anymore. You can be mad at me for this when you get back from Professor Snape's. You're going, whether you want to or not. You can't be hurt by anything that he has to say to you. You can't feel hurt, you can't feel irritated, but Ginny can. You're killing her Harry and if you want to return to her, you'll make sure that she's going to be here when you come home. I know that there's a way to fix this Harry, and I really believe that Snape is the key to this mystery. Maybe he'll even be able to help you. You never know. But you're never going to get over this if you don't face your fears, Harry. There's still a reason that you can feel that fear which makes me think it's gotta be the strongest kind of fear because you're feeling it over your love for Ginny. Fear can consume you Harry, and I'm afraid that if you're feeling Ginny's fear as well that it might be serious. I'll get you a pad and quill and then you're going to write a letter telling Snape that you will be to his house after work tomorrow." She stood and crossed to the desk and began to search for a quill. When she found a parchment big enough to satisfy her, she brought it all back over to Harry and set it roughly in his lap. "Do you need me to write it for you?" Harry looked up with a look of submission and picked up the quill between his thumb and first finger, softly pulling the other hand through the feather pulling it all to a point. Hermione stood and began to walk out of the room.

"Hermione." She turned to look at Harry. "Thanks...for everything. You really are a true friend."

"Sure thing, Harry. Just don't mess this up. Ginny's a once in a lifetime catch, don't let her get away."

She left the room as Harry pressed his quill to the parchment. It took nearly four hours for him to write it down but finally Harry lay down the quill, completly ruffled and the feather nearly stripped off, next to his finished letter.

_Professor Snape,_

_I heard that you had offered to help me with my problem. I appreciate your offer and would like to take you up on it. I am available tomorrow evening after I get off work. If this will work, please send a post before tomorrow morning with instructions on where and when to meet. _

_Hopefully we can lay down the gauntlet for an evening in the efforts of saving a wonderful woman. _

_I will be awaiting your reply,_

_Harry J. Potter_

He took the letter to Hedwig who gave him a hoot and a nip on the finger when he told her the recipient but took the letter calmly onto her leg and flew quickly out the window towards Spinner's End and hopefully Harry's redemption. Hermione watched the snow white owl that carried her and Draco's certificate of guilt and shuddered at the images that Harry would soon be forced to witness.

**----------------------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 20 Teaser**

"Harry, I've done a lot of thinking these last few days. I miss you, the real you, and I just don't know that I can do this anymore."

"Ginny please," Harry's interrupting cry was nearly strangled by his swelling throat. "Don't do this."


	20. Rain filled pain and wicked games

CHAPTER TWENTY RAIN FILLED PAIN AND WICKED GAMES

Harry walked the dark hallway toward the sounds of the voices in the living room. He could see several splashes of red around the room, but not the one that he was searching for. He scanned the room, watching the laughter emit from all the lips he crossed, but did not see the lips that had become his nectar of life. He finally gave up his search in that room and turned to try the steps. As he opened the door he instantly saw the rose petal hair that stuck to the rose petal lips as she turned to look up at the intruder on her thoughts. The skies cried on the endearing scene as Ginny stood and moved her hair out of her mood ring eyes that now showed a shade of electric green that told Harry she had been deep in thought. They changed as her pupils narrowed to a darker satin green that made Harry smile. Her eyes held the window to her soul and nothing brought more comfort to Harry than seeing those cat-like eyes looking into his. They arched slightly at the ends reminding Harry of an Egyptian goddess and he always wondered if it was a reminder of her past life. Her lips twitched into a slight smile and he yearned to kiss them. They were always so soft and held lingering flavors of her chap sticks that she was a prisoner to. She was constantly applying some form of moisturizer to those soft lips and they retained it so well, even through the longest kiss. He realized that he had been staring open mouthed at Ginny for nearly a minute and hadn't even said 'hello'.

"I was...I hoped you...um..hi," Harry found that as the water from the rain dripped slowly off of her auburn hair he wished that he could be that droplet clutching briefly to the softly twisting tendrils he knew would smell like melons and citrus. She crossed her arms tightly over her milky white stomach and he noticed how this action brought out the curve of her body. Her soft curves that had always fit into him so well were suductive even when she didn't intend them to be. She was beautiful, not just in the meaning of the word but in a meaning that only Harry's soul had once understood. He searched for that spot hoping that it would finally light the sparks that the power from her smile was emitting. If she was beautiful before, she was a million times that whenever her lips parted into a wide laughing smile. Her laughter was the greatest sound in the world sending a tingle down Harry's spine and infecting his own throat to join in the joy, but it had been years since he had heard her laugh.

"How's your...I mean, did I hurt you? Permanently?" Ginny asked as she placed one foot behind the other and rocked slowly trying to warm her numbing body from the bitter cold of the winter rain.

"Nothing permanent. Why don't we get you inside? You'll freeze to death out here." Harry put a concerned hand out in a truce offering, but it was not taken.

"Is that a promise?" Harry was startled to see that there wasn't any sense of the words being jovial. Her eyes had become even darker and Harry knew that the clouds were starting to settle into her heart. His stomach clenched at her unhappiness and he felt, if possible, even more empty. Her pain was radiating through the rain and piercing Harry's heart even more than the cold. She was his final string on his lifeline and as her will slipped away, he felt himself begin to leave with her.

"Please, don't talk like that, Gin. I can't stand to think of a world where I can't wake up next to you." Ginny looked into his blank eyes and her heart screamed at the sweet words that sounded so bitter when coupled with his empty stare.

"Harry, I've done a lot of thinking these last few days. I miss you, the real you, and I just don't know that I can do this anymore."

"Ginny please," Harry's interrupting cry was nearly strangled by his swelling throat. "Don't do this."

"I'm not leaving you, Harry. I can't do that. As much as it hurts to love you, I couldn't live if I didn't. That's what I've concluded. You may have hurt me over and over again, but it would kill me to not see you everyday. Draco talked to me about the Hermione thing, and while I still wish you would have told me, I guess I can't be too upset. I wasn't a virgin when you met me, either. He made me realize that I had done the same thing to you that I was so upset with you for and I couldn't be upset. I've decided that we'll put that behind us...someday. I can't promise that I'll be comfortable with the two of you, but as long as you promise it's me that you see when you close your eyes, I'll have to believe you. But it's gonna take time. Can you give me time, Harry? Like I'll give you time to come back to me? 'Cause you will, won't you? We'll find a way, right?" She was pleading with him for an affirmative answer as she closed the distance between them to bury her head in his chest. He closed his arms tightly around her soaked form and the two held each other so tightly not even the rain falling over them could come between them. She looked up blinking as the water fell into her eyes to meet with his and saw that droplets ran down his face mimicking tears. The water had brought hope to her soul and she kissed his wet cheeks, imagining that the water was salty.

^___^

Inside in the living room Draco sat on the couch, one leg propped up, like he owned the thing. Fred and George were showing off their newest invention in the center of the room and Luna, Ron and Hermione all sat by applauding when appropriate and laughing when it went wrong. Draco had made sure to place himself directly across from Ron and as Hermione was distracted by the twins idiotic bumbling he stared directly at Ron waiting for the perfect moment.

Ron could feel eyes burning into his skull, but he was sure where it was coming from and knew that as much as his curiosity wanted to confirm it, he did not want to see what he knew was there. He had felt that same burning earlier on the stairs, but before he knew what he was doing, his eyes sought out the cause and found exactly what he expected.

Draco smiled at the attention he was suddenly given. He winked softly before readjusting his hips so that his pants where pulled tight against his legs leaving his bulge very pronounced. He saw Ron squirm at this sudden sight but, like a car accident, he was unable to look away. Draco placed a hand to his lips and nibbled on the tip before slipping the tip of his digit slowly into his mouth, licking slowly down the side and closing his eyes. He swallowed a huge outburst of laughter as he swallowed the entire finger. Ron's face had changed to a look of disgust but Draco was certain that there was some intrigue behind those eyes. Ron tried to get Hermione's attention, but she was wrapped up in a conversation with Fred and George and didn't so much as give him the time of day. Draco smirked as he saw Ron adjust in his chair and knew it was time to push it to the next level.

As Ron watched involuntarily from across the room, Draco ran his finger down the front of his shirt to gently fondle the growing bulge of his jeans. He made sure to emphasis that he was enjoying the feeling by biting his bottom lip and worrying it between his teeth. He tried to convey with his eyes how much better it would be if he had some help and saw Ron swallow hard before he tapped Hermione firmly on the shoulder. It took Hermione so long to finally give into his persistent taps that by the time that she turned to speak to Ron and glanced over to where he was gesturing, Draco had straightened up on the couch and crossed his legs to hide his slight erection from view. He tried to appear very interested in what the twins where saying to Luna as if he had not missed a word of the conversation. Hermione looked irritated over at Ron before standing up and walking irritated from his reach. Once again, Draco had to hide a smile as he saw Ron take the same position in his chair as Draco. It worked. Ron had been aroused. Perfect. His entire plan depended on proving that somewhere inside that red-headed freak was a gay red-headed freak.

Fred and George were now showing off their Cupid's Arrow Starter Kit by shooting it at Luna and making her make out with Crookshanks. Everyone was having a great time watching as one after another people began to make out with everything from the couch to a very violated Hedwig until the final arrow struck a little too close to home. Before they knew it, everyone in the room was looking completely aghast at the one sight they were sure they would never have to witness. Draco Malfoy, pure blood, Slytherin, had his tongue down the throat of one Hermione Granger, mud-blood, Gryffindor. They broke away as quickly as they realized and Draco saw a very distinct blush in the brunette's otherwise pale complexion but she didn't look disgusted. Ron, however, was fuming.

Ron left the room tight lipped and clenching his fist as cries of "It's only a game, mate" carried through the house but whether they reached his ears before the bedroom door was slammed, they would never know. Everyone turned to stare at Hermione as if wondering what her next move would be and were shocked to find that she hadn't followed her husband upstairs to comfort him, but was sitting comfortably in her chair trying to avoid stares. Several silent uncomfortable moments went by before Draco finally spoke.

"I think it's time for me to retire, gents and ladies. It's been real." He nodded his head slightly at Hermione as he passed but wasn't even benefited with a goodbye glance. She seemed to prefer his absence as he walked past and Draco felt his heart drop slightly. _"Well what did you expect, a good night snog? She's a married woman and she was just caught with her pants down. Leave the poor thing alone, you horny bastard." _Draco slammed his door a little too hard and the sound carried throughout the house.

"Good thing we're leaving. I don't think I want to be in the bed next to that crazy buggar." George piped up with his opinion. He was whisking his belongings into his backpack as he spoke and his counterpart was cleaning up the mess their regurgitating toilets had made. Luna had gathered her things much earlier as she was accustomed to having to search for her belongings. They were soon all piled at the front door saying their quick goodbyes.

"Angelina will kill me for this 'Mione, but I just can't be the only one left out." George leaned forward and pecked the blushing girl on the lips but they both ended up laughing as his nose smacked into hers and knocked her back a bit. Fred stepped up and layed one on her check and they all turned to Luna to see if she would except the challenge. To great applause and catcalling, Luna showed she was not about to step down from any challenge.

"She's definitely the best of you three." Hermione called down the stairs after their retreating backs. "I hope you don't kiss your wife like that, George." Hermione began to close the door but heard a call from the top of the stairs that made all four of them pause.

"Fred, George, just a minute. I have to ask you a favor." Harry was nearly leaping down the stairs three at a time carrying in his left hand the only thing he had treasured more than his own life at one time. His Firebolt, still neatly polished although obviously not flown for several years, bounced against his hip as he whipped past Hermione out on to the steps. "Could you take this to Hogwarts for me? I overheard Dobby saying that they're paying top price for my things for the museum and I thought this might bring a pretty Galleon or two." All four stood opened mouthed as if they thought that Malfoy and Granger playing tonsil hockey would be the most shocking thing they would ever witness. But Harry Potter, willingly selling his Firebolt?

"Harry, that's all you have of... Sirius." Hermione said tepidly as she began to creep forward. She knew what he was doing and why and her arms where trying to come out of their sockets to hug him.

"I have this house. I never fly anymore and I just don't think that I have much use for the old thing. You might as well take it now while I can't feel attached to the thing before I regret it. Take it. Just do me one favor, whatever they give you, just bring me enough back that I can give Ginny the wedding she deserves. Could you do that for me?" Harry had already turned to leave to go back into the house as they all stared at the magnificent piece of art that had been bestowed into Fred's trembling hands.

"You reckon I ought to do it? I mean, what if he changes his mind? They'll never be able to afford to get it out of hawk with Ginny's salary." Fred looked to both sides as if begging for someone else to take the broom off his hands. He didn't want to be responsible when Harry came too and realized it was missing.

"I think he means it." Hermione said from the top of the steps. "He's trying to come out. Throw him a rope." She kissed her hand and blew them a kiss before closing the door behind her. She looked up the stairs and saw Harry sitting on the top step staring blankly at her as she started for the kitchen. The blank stare after losing his second most prized possession was haunting her and she thought of that face being used at the loss of the first most prized. " I don't know about you Harry, but I need a drink. Care to join me? I think there's some more of Draco's 'heartbreak killer' in my butter beer from the other night. We'll split it. Then you can tell me all about your plans for your wedding." Harry joined her and they walked arm and arm into the kitchen.

**----------------------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 21 Teaser**

Draco was unaware of falling asleep but he was aware that suddenly Hermione was standing next to him wearing nothing but a towel. Her hair was ratted out to the sides and she was slowly nibbling on the end of her finger. "Hermione? What are you doing here?" She didn't reply she just put her hand up to her pillowy lips and blew him a kiss before dissapearing into the moonlight creeping through the window.


	21. Love, lust, and longlost fears

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE LOVE, LUST, AND LONG LOST FEARS

**AN: I'd like to thank those that have put this story on alerts. It really gives me a good feeling, and the urge to keep posting. I wouldn't want to let you down. Serious thanks to those that have favorited this story: AlinaLotus, Wilth, and purposelyaccidental. Your support does not go unnoticed or unappreciated. **

**This chapter contains sexual content as well as abuse. You have been warned. **

Draco was unaware of falling asleep but he was aware that suddenly Hermione was standing next to him wearing nothing but a towel. Her hair was ratted out to the sides and she was slowly nibbling on the end of her finger. "Hermione? What are you doing here?" She didn't reply she just put her hand up to her pillowy lips and blew him a kiss before disappearing into the moonlight creeping through the window.

Draco opened his eyes and was greeted by his best friend who had gotten up before he had. "You want her too, do you?" he asked his erection. He closed his eyes again, trying to bring her back into the room, but his throbbing genitals were distracting him from his mission. "I know you want attention but she's not gonna give it to you." He hoped that it would be enough to calm him down, but he seemed to be trying to break out of Draco's pants to go and find her. "Easy there, partner, you had your chance." His member rubbed uncomfortably against his jeans and it was becoming quiet painful. He reached down to readjust away from the metal of his zipper and received an electric spark that shot into his stomach at his own touch. He found himself fingering the pull on his zipper as if now they had joined into the begging. He ran a finger down the bulge underneath the rough material of the denim and shivered at the tingling that was building within. His zipper's teeth ripped apart slowly one by one and the pressure eased as his erection was allowed freedom from its denim cage. As he undid the button on his green silk boxer briefs his hips thrust expectantly into his palm, causing him to grasp his entire crotch in his hands.

"Now don't go acting like you've been neglected." He scolded as he freed himself from the waistband of his clothes. His pants slipped around his ankles. The dank basement air caressed his exposed skin and made him sigh with anticipation. He looked around the room for something to use as a lubricant, but couldn't find anything. At that he pulled out his wand and ran it slowly over his groin, allowing the woods to meet each other as he passed it down covering it in warming oil. "I love being a wizard." He whispered to no one in particular as he impressed himself with his own talents. The cold air met the slick oil and he felt if begin to cool slightly bringing a slight arch to his backbone. He thought of the cool air being Hermione's breath as if she was sucking on an ice cube as she lowered her head to his crotch and he was suddenly at full attention.

He ran a finger length wise up the shaft before circling it firmly around the head and into the middle of his crevice. The sensation here was nearly too much, but Draco always enjoyed a little pain with his pleasure. In fact he found he came the hardest when it was countered with a spark of pain. The two opposites brought out the best of the other and he found himself pinching the black snake that circled the inside of his thigh as he continued his round trip down the back of his shaft.

His hands were far too rough and strong from years of Quidditch for him to imagine them as a delicate woman's, but if he closed his eyes he could see Hermione join him at the foot of his bed, intrigued by his self-pleasuring and commanding that he continue. He grasped tightly at the base with his thumb and forefinger and let his ring raise up easily over his oiled staff. He tightened the grip as he pulled roughly back down and a moan escaped his snarled lip. He quickened his pace to match his pulse as he stayed near the base and added another finger to his grip. At the base of his bed Hermione joined him in his panting and began to run her hand over her own genitals, obviously becoming aroused by his performance.

The oil began to warm underneath his touch and enhanced his desire to continue to rub his throbbing dick. He caught his lips between his teeth and bit down, nearly drawing blood, as the intensity grew. Even as sweat began to bead on his worried brow he couldn't stop his rythmic dance across the slippery skin of his scrotum. He slipped farther down on the bed so that he was now laying on his back with his elbow tucked behind his head and he turned to bite into his arm as the new position allowed him to pull harder. He pulled his shirt up so that he could feel the cool air on his perfectly formed stomach. He pushed his arousal toward his stomach so that it nearly touched his muscular abdomen and lightly messaged his perennial area. He closed his eyes and suddenly a thick layer of lubricant formed itself around his first and second finger. He circled slowly over the top of his head with one hand as he slowly began to circle the tight muscles of his anus with the other.

Despite his actions throughout the day, Draco had never even played with the idea that he could be gay but this wasn't the first time that he had been penetrated anally. It didn't take long for him to feel relaxed enough to insert his wand tip, now begining to leak lubricant magically over it's well- oiled sides, slowly into the tight tunnel and his stomach quenched as it tried to push it back out. Pleasure with pain, he thought. As his body realized he was not going to give in to its protests, he was able to insert even farther. The muscles, finally accepting, pulled him in as if eager to help. He moaned loudly as very slowly he inched his way in to locate his prostate. His knees arched up on the bed to give him deeper penetration. He moved his wrist quickly to pulsate the knot of nerve endings. Hermione had disappeared now as he was sure that she wasn't the type of girl that would understand his methods. He rocked his hips gently, plunging one hand deeper as his hips pulled the other hand farther up his penis. His legs shook with exhaustion but he knew he wasn't far off. As his moans began to reach their peak, he climaxed forcefully and was startled by the hot cum that now sprayed onto his stomach. He lay for several moments trying to regain his breath as he lay sprawled on the bed, his eyes slightly crossed. He knew he was covered in all kinds of secretions and yearned for a cool shower. As he sat up slowly to pull his pants back on to go wash up he was startled to see that he was now being watched by another, unwanted, set of eyes.

"You disgust me." Came a drawl much like his own. Draco didn't have to look up to know that he was being glared down upon by a pair of piercing steel grey eyes. Lucius crossed the room and pulled Draco into a submissive kneel, his pants still around his knees, and placed a cold metal cane underneath his chin, roughly forcing his eyes to meet his own. "No son of a pureblood heir should have to pleasure himself to a filthy mud-blood. You might as well have had the Potter boy come down and fuck you. You obviously would enjoy that." He smirked, referencing the lubricant still shinning off of Draco's wand. Draco tried to look away from his father but was hit across the head by the metal snake that topped the cane that held him prisoner.

"It's your fault I know it's there." Draco said coldly, daring to stand to meet his fathers height. He pulled his pants up and glared deeply into his fathers cold stare. "All those years you allowed your comrades to fuck and beat me in the name of your Dark Lord. You took your six year old child into a room of hooded figures and tied him to a stone slab. As they circled your shaking child, each taking their turn to ass rape him, you stood by with a double-edged sword to 'convince' him not to cry. How about when I was eleven and you returned me to that slab." He pulled up his shirt and pointed to the red scar that crossed his chest. "Remember this one, father? How with your own hand you sliced open your child's chest to allow your Lord to place snake venom into my wounds. What if I had died? A real father would have not only protected me but you should have never let it happen. "

"You were never only my son! You were the chosen child to the greatest Sorcerer this world has ever known. Your mother was so proud to be selected to be the birth mother to Voldemort's heir and we knew what it would mean from your conception. He chose me to mix seed with inside your mothers womb and the end product of our potion of powers was supposed to be a god child. It was your duty to allow others to be as close to the Dark Lord as possible. He only tested you to see if you were worthy of being his seed and I was never more proud of you. "

Draco had known since he was a small child that he was not only Lucius' child so it was like hearing a broken record telling him this information. "You were never proud of me! You call raping your own child and beating him so he would know he was never going to be good enough being proud?"

"I was preparing you for your trials. You were the disappointment. You had too much of your mother's traitor family blood to be a true Malfoy. You disgusted me then, as you continue to do now."

"It doesn't matter what you think anymore, father." The final word dripped with disdain. "You're gone. I may have disgusted you, but I bet you never counted on me being a stronger wizard than you. That I would be the one to end your miserable existence."

"You were meant to be a better wizard than anyone and you ruined it. Your only strength was your cowardly treason. You gave up your dreams to rule the world side by side with the greatest man to ever live so you could 'fit in' with your filthy mudblood whores."

"They were YOUR dreams! You wanted to be held in high favor with Voldemort, but you knew that you would never be. He saw you as a failure or he would have let you fuck your own wife alone!" Draco prepared himself for the beating of his life but as he brought down his hands that shielded his face he realized he was once again alone in the room. He began to shake as he closed his eyes and swallowed back the tears that were threatening to emerge.

**A/N Ok, I know it doesn't make much sense in our world for Draco to have two fathers, but it worked for my story. I hope you are still enjoying it, there's already a sequel in the makes! Let me know what you're thinking. Reviews are always appriciated. **

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Chapter 22 Teaser

The entrance to St. Mungo's appeared in front of him before Harry realized that he'd forgotten to send a letter to Madam Pomfrey saying he'd be here today. "Keep it up, Harry. You're really gonna knock this day out of the park." He wandered into the busy lobby past the desk and didn't return the smile to the receptionist who he clearly overheard her turn a colorful phrase in his direction. He knocked on Madam Pomfrey's door and she was obviously not expecting him, but happy to see him all the same.


	22. A Few Familiar FAce

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO A FEW FAMILIAR FACES

The next morning brought many unhappy faces to the breakfast table as no one spoke over a hot bowl of porridge and coffee. When the cups were drained and the plates empty, five people got up to part their ways with not so much as a word to share between them. Harry and Ginny planned to spend the day at work, and as the plan still hadn't been finished, Hermione, Ron, and Draco had no intention of going home. Hermione, however, did plan to spend the day keeping Ron occupied and away from Draco. She was taking him into Diagon Alley to try to keep his mind off the night before and perhaps buy some new books at Flourish and Blotts in the process. Draco planned to have the house to himself today seeing as everyone would be gone and couldn't wait to get some well-needed sleep. He had been afraid to fall asleep again through the night but in the daylight hours, not even the dark soul of his father could overpower the light.

As Hermione and Ron tucked their winter robes close around them to leave, Hermione watched Draco walk sulkily down the stairs. The words had flown out of her mouth before she could catch them.

"Would you care to join us in Diagon Alley today, Draco?"

Ron's glare could have pierced metal as Draco turned to ponder the question. "I don't think I slept too well last night. I think I'll just catch up on a few z's and then do a bit of tidying up. Fred and George are not the cleanest company. Besides, I don't think Weasley's head could stand the strain if he keeps making that face. Thanks for the offer though, love."

Ron leapt forward as if to go beat the smirk of Malfoy's face as his final word of thanks sank into two sets of ears. Hermione restrained him easily with one firm stare and they parted, shouting at each other clear down the street. The last discernable phrase came from Hermione and Draco couldn't help but laugh as he lay on his bed at the wit of that strong beauty.

"Why do you even care that he kissed me? According to you he's gay!" Ron's mumbling could be heard until they apperated from the street corner.

Another scene was now playing itself out in the alcove of the doorway. Harry and Ginny had met there, almost by accident, and she firmly put down her satchel containing her lunch to straighten out the ceil blue work scrubs that Harry had thrown on.

"Honestly, Harry, did you sleep in these? I don't think I've ever seen a pair of scrubs that could get that wrinkled." She pulled out her wand and brushed them over the clothes until they lay flat and pressed against his body. "Now, did you pack a lunch? Wash your hair? Get milk money and clean underwear and all that other bullshit." She smiled as her mother channeled momentarily through her body. Why did women always baby their men? _Cause we have to or they'd die. _Ginny smiled up at Harry and even though she hadn't spoke, he knew she had just thought of how hopeless a case he was.

Harry leaned forward to kiss her good-bye, but Ginny stepped back as if she was being violated on her first date. "Harry, what are you doing?"

"I was just trying to kiss you good-bye, that's all. Isn't that OK?"

"I just, well, just don't kiss me unless you mean it, OK? I just want to feel something the next time you kiss me. That you can prove to me that it's all me. I'm sorry, Harry. Have a good day though." She did reach up and peck him on the cheek before turning to leave the house. As she hit the top step, she felt his hand clasp firmly around the top of her arm and spun her around. As her body spun nearly off the step, she was pulled firmly and pressed up against a firm, heaving chest. Her head was pushed furiously back until it rested on Harry's strong hand that ran through her hair as his lips pressed a tight seal against hers. He kissed her with such fury that she felt her knees buckle and was glad that he had her held so tightly. His head moved slowly but with purpose against hers and she felt him harden slightly against her leg. She broke away with a spark of hope but noticed that he wouldn't open his eyes to look at her.

"Look at me, Harry." She tried to get him to open his eyes but as they opened, she knew why he had kept them closed. The most passionate kiss they had shared in years and there was not a spark of anything in those eyes. Ginny tried to give him some words of encouragement, but nothing came to mind. She left for work, the taste of his lips still lingering on hers and she tried to wipe it off as it only caused her pain.

Harry slammed the door shut with so much force that the porch lamp broke off and hung by it's wiring. As he slammed the key into the lock with a reassuring click, a sheer black owl dropped a letter onto the porch in front of Harry's feet. On the envelope, which was addressed to himself, was a scrawl he hadn't seen since school. Inside, the note conveyed the same snobbiness that he had come to expect from the sender.

_Today is fine. Be here by six, no later. If you can't arrive on time then perhaps it doesn't really matter to you after all. Meet me on the Quidditch pitch at Hogwarts, I'm sure you remember where that is, and I'll take you where we are to continue. I'm not promising results, but we'll see what we can work out. Do not be late. _

_Professor Severus S. Snape, potions master_, _RET_

"Great. Let's top off this perfect day with a visit to Snape. Just what I've always wanted." He finally reached the corner behind all of the others and Apparated to his home for the day.

The entrance to St. Mungo's appeared in front of him before Harry realized that he'd forgotten to send a letter to Madam Pomfrey saying he'd be here today. "Keep it up, Harry. You're really gonna knock this day out of the park." He wandered into the busy lobby past the desk and didn't return the smile to the receptionist who he clearly overheard her turn a colorful phrase in his direction. He knocked on Madam Pomfrey's door and she was obviously not expecting him, but happy to see him all the same.

"I didn't expect to see you today, Harry. Things straightened up at home?" She was leading him down the hallway towards the locked doors of the closed ward where Harry would spend his day. She received a small nod in answer as she waved her wand to unlock the doors. "We keep it locked up for wanderers. You'll find that most of the time when the mind stops working properly, it doesn't slow down the body much. In a lot of cases, they're quicker and stronger than you would think they'd be. Don't let your guard down." As they stepped through the door, she immediately turned to lock it behind them again and turned to give him a smile.

"Now let's see, ah here he is. Dean? Do you have a moment, dear?"

Dean Thomas, lean and looking worn out, crossed the room as a smile of recognition crossed his face. "Well, if it isn't Harry Potter. Haven't seen you in ages, mate. What brings you here?"

Madam Pomfrey answered before Harry was able to open his mouth. "He's your new aide, Dean. He doesn't have any patient care experience so he'll need training up a bit, but I think he'll be a great choice to add to our team."

Dean smiled politely before motioning with his head for Madam Pomfrey to join him in the corner. "Oh Dean, they'll leave him alone." Harry overheard her say as she gave him a quick reassuring look over her shoulder before placing her head closer in to Dean. He finally nodded in agreement before rejoining Harry.

"Don't get the wrong idea, mate. I'm thrilled to have you here, it's just that there's a lot of people that are here because of you and they don't realize that the war's over you know? OK, not _because_ of you directly, but you know what I mean." Dean added at the scowl on Harry's face. "Anyway, shall we get started? You've got a lot of people to meet."

Harry spent most of the morning in a back office filling out paperwork for the Ministry. He even came across a piece of paper that his signature said he would always alert the Department of Magical Deaths of any passing and directly above his name was the neat loops of Ginny's. His hand paused as he took in her name and wondered if she had made it safely to work. He thought of dropping her a letter to make sure but before he could even find a blank piece of parchment, Dean was calling for him to walk the hall with him.

"This is where we keep the most severe cases." Dean pointed out to his left passed a second set of closed doors, beyond which was a dimly lit chamber where screams could be heard constantly. "Incurable cases where the person is in pain. Some spells, especially unforgivable ones, can become a permanent state of consciousness if performed too long or by an amature that can't pull the spell. Once the mind has accepted it as a state of being, the body suffers until they die. All we can do is keep them from hurting others in their most advanced stages, but research shows that at that point, the mind isn't even aware of the state of the body, so at least they don't suffer through the worst of it." Harry's stomach clenched as he thought of the pain of Crucio which he himself had felt lasting more than the agonizing minutes he had been held. How would it be to have a constant pain that you could do nothing to releave? The mind was such a powerful force and Harry nearly vomited as he thought of his own situation being permanent.

"These are the more severe cases of dementia, caused by spells or old age, that while still not curable, are not a danger to anyone." Just as he finished speaking, a crazed looking woman stood and crossed the room, her hair ratted from months of not being brushed, and got directly in Harry's face nearly shoving him down backwards.

"You! You were supposed to save us, but could you? Noooo....I told them you wouldn't do it and no one believed me."

Harry's jaw dropped in disbelief. "Professor Trelawny?" He looked to Dean for a nod of affirmation which he received.

"You'll be surprised how many people you'll recognize. The Dark Lord used her to try to find out what you where up to in your seventh year and she fought him off for quiet awhile. This is what happens when you try to defy 'You-Know-Who' of information. Oh by the way, we can't use his name. Just trust me on that one. Excuse us, Sibyl, we have more to see. Why don't you go find your crystal ball and I'll be back to find out about tomorrow's game in just a minute."

"I'll tell you, but I'm not going to talk to _him_. He's clouding my inner eye, keep him away." Trelawny walked away snapping her fingers as she whistled as if for a lost pet, hoping her crystal ball would come to her.

"She not the worst of it Harry. I'd be prepared to fight off a few attacks like that one. Hope you've got some thick skin. You're a popular entity around here."

Harry spent the next part of the day doing just that as one after another the entire floor took their turn to mock or praise him. He recognized most of the people that spit on his feet or tried to attack him as former Death Eaters and even the ones that he didn't recognize didn't hesitate to pledge their allegiance to their now gone master. Every now and then, he would get some relief as the person was too far gone to even know who they were let alone who he was. Some would scream when he would go to help them as if his touch would burn them and others would come up repeatedly just to shake his hand and thank him for what he was willing to do for them. Luckily, neither of these attacks got to him and he would just wait until they had finished before continuing on with his work. He cleaned out drawers and tidied up beds of those that would let him come near them for nearly three hours, coming across only a few other recognizable people. Professor Trelawny and Professor Lockhart where now sharing a pad of paper as he would sign her an autograph and she would try to decipher his handwriting.

Harry was just about to pack up for the day, when he crossed a curtain that he wished he had kept closed. Sitting on their beds in a little cubby of the floor, sat Frank and Alice Longbottom, slowly unwrapping a piece of candy each before handing the wrappers across to each other. Harry watched the touching scene for nearly five minutes before leaping back to avoid embarrassment as Neville joined them from under the bed, holding a wrapper of his own to hand to his mother. Harry stood clutching the curtain before he was startled by a hand on his shoulder. Turning he saw the understanding face of Dean.

"Don't worry about hiding, he doesn't know you're here anymore than he knows he is. He's been here for nearly six years, after the war. Nearly a perfect ending, huh? He gets to be with his parents again anyways. They've become a favorite around here. They mostly keep to themselves only needing refills on their candy dishes when necessary and just watch to make sure that they sleep. Sometimes they just sit up all night sharing that damn candy. I finally switched it to sugar free when Neville started putting back on his baby fat." Harry tried to break away from the scene before Dean had to finally drag him down the hall to pick up his bag.

As Harry hit the cooling night air of outside he breathed a sigh of relief. One day down. He would only have to return five days a week, perhaps for the rest of his life. That couldn't be so bad, right? He readjusted his bag against his shoulder as he set off to return home. As he hit the corner, however, he uttered a loud curse as his memory clicked back on and he remembered he didn't get to go home. He had to meet Snape at Hogwarts, he checked his watch, in five minutes. Damn it!

After Apparating to the wrong location twice after not being able to concentrate he finally arrived on the crisp green lawns just outside of Hogsmeade. He looked over the rolling hills of the grounds, located the edge of the forbidden forest, took in Hagrid's hut and the towers of the school, and knew at once that this was it. He was home.

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Chapter 23 Teaser

When Harry reached the gate of the pitch, he noticed that unlike the school itself, it was padlocked with a huge "No Trespassing" sign. Harry looked for another entrance, or perhaps the hooked nose of a certain professor, but neither was in sight. Another quick look at his wrist showed him that he was not only late, but becoming very much so as the seconds ticked by. He began to panic before he noticed the shimmer of something light green from the no trespassing sign. He ran his finger over the sign and found that the green wiped off onto his fingers and began to spread up his hand until it began to form words across his lower arm. "You're late."


	23. Harry's Homecoming

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE HARRY'S HOMECOMING

Harry walked the long road up to the gates of Hogwarts which, much to his surprise, he found unlocked. Hanging on the once protective gates was a visitor's sign with the new winter hours. Monday-Friday 12-5, Saturday-Sunday 9-6. Immediately inside, Harry found himself face to face with an odd-looking wizard standing behind a ticket box asking the patron$s for ticket stubs or hand stamps for re-entry. Harry had neither.

"Stamp your ticket, gov'ner?" The filthy wizard asked as Harry approached the gate.

"Umm...ticket? I just was supposed to meet someone here and he didn't say anything about getting a ticket." Harry looked up for the first time from searching his pockets and pushed his glasses back up his sweating nose. A glance at his watch told him that he had less than a minute.

"Bloody 'ell, 'arry? 'Sthat you?"

Harry was used to the recognition, but it had been such a long time that it was kind of unnerving. There were hundreds of people around, all here to see this great hero and Harry hadn't even taken time out to change out of his piss stained scrubs. But this time was different. It wasn't just a random face, a nameless voice, and as Harry finally looked deep into the eyes of the haggard wizard his recognition for an old acquaintance clicked in.

"Stan? Stan Shunpike? What are you doing here?"

"Penance. They let me out 'a Azkaban when they realized I didn' do nufin' an' they couldn' hol' me, but the Ministry still feels I owe 'em community service or sumfin'. Anyhow's, you get in for free acourse, no one thought you'd actually ever come so the Minister says you get free passage. Only one, mate. If you're just here to meet someone though, I'd hide that mug o' yours sos no one'll bother you. Here, take me hat. Good seein' ya 'arry."

Stan's cap smelled like sweat and old ale, but Harry was soon thankful for the cover up. Even though some people still did double takes as he walked by, he felt that his walk from the grounds was still pretty uneventful.

Signs and posts pointed out points of interest as well as the visitor's center and hundreds of people flocked the grounds in many different arrays of clothing. Not one of the black school uniform robes or signs of any house colors were present and even the familiar path to the Quidditch pitch seemed unfriendly. When Harry reached the gate of the pitch, he noticed that unlike the school itself, it was padlocked with a huge "No Trespassing" sign. Harry looked for another entrance, or perhaps the hooked nose of a certain professor, but neither was in sight. Another quick look at his wrist showed him that he was not only late, but becoming very much so as the seconds ticked by. He began to panic before he noticed the shimmer of something light green from the no trespassing sign. He ran his finger over the sign and found that the green wiped off onto his fingers and began to spread up his hand until it began to form words across his lower arm. "You're late."

He tried to rub the accusing words off but as they spread they only changed to other words. "You better not waste my time, Potter. Open the door."

"I can't, it's locked." Harry felt ridiculous as he heard the words leave his mouth. He was talking to his arm now.

The words took a minute as if in an exasperated sigh and then spelled out words one last time before dripping off his arm, leaving not a trace behind. "Honestly, Potter. Just open the door."

Harry watched as the padlock fell from the gate, holding on only by its final chain to lock back up following Harry's entry. As he entered the massive field he waited for feelings of victory and defeat to overwhelm him, but they did not come. In fact, the entire grounds seemed empty for Harry. He knew there should be something there, seeing as how it had been where he grew up and learned to live and love, but now it was just an overgrown patch of grass, badly in need of weeding, and not even the recent loss of his Firebolt could make him mourn for his favorite pastime.

Out of the stands a figure loomed, obviously aged and badly beaten. Like most from the battles, Professor Snape showed outer wounds that only touched the tip of the internal wounds that they had all suffered. It took him time to work his way across the field, a slight limp partnered with a black hickory cane, but as he stood next to Harry, he still appeared intimidating.

"You're late, Mr. Potter. I told you that I would wait until six and it's easily fifteen after. My patience has already been tried once today, so I expect it will not happen again. Shall we?"

He didn't give Harry time to make up an excuse as he was sure it wouldn't change anything. He watched as the young man solemnly followed behind him, his head hung as if he was still a scolded child, and wondered what had become of the once cocky youth.

"We won't be meeting in the eyes of your admirers, Mr. Potter. I hope that is to your approval." All he received was a small nod in agreement. "Mr. Malfoy tells me that you're having mental problems. However did you notice a difference?" He smirked at his snide remark but didn't even receive a typical Harry glare. As they walked Harry noticed that they were coming to the edge of the pitch and the outer walls where closing in quickly, yet Professor Snape didn't seem interested in altering his course. As they came upon the wall, Snape lifted his hand and the wall formed an archway, through which Harry could see a street lined with similar houses to that of Privet Drive.

"It's more advanced than a portkey, Mr. Potter." Snape commented as they walked through the archway which closed up behind them, leaving no trace of Hogwarts behind them. "It's a portal in space-time. I'm sure that if you had continued your education, you might have stayed long enough to mess it up." He once again enjoyed his own personal joke, but he didn't get the glare that he so enjoyed. "My god son seems to be concerned about your state of being, enough so that he risked me getting caught entering your home in the middle of the night just to move you down the hall. We were sure that once you had seen the portraits contained in that room, that you would snap out of whatever is plaguing your mind, but apparently, you had been damaged farther than expected."

"How did you know that I had portraits in my house?" Harry asked missing the part about being moved out of bed by his old professor.

"Do you still find yourself above listening, Mr. Potter? Draco told me. He wrote to ask for my help and I just barely agreed to oblige so if you continue to irritate me, you will do this on your own."

"I'm sorry, Professor."

Snape stopped suddenly to look at Harry truly for the first time. He ripped the sweat stained cap off his head and took in the mop of black hair, the lightening bolt scar and his mothers eyes, just to make sure he had the right kid. He had never heard Harry apologize for anything and he suddenly worried that it was more severe than first thought.

"Now, I will take you to my home, away from prying eyes, and the next time we meet, you will know how to get here. We won't have to meet at Hogwarts again. I'm sure this will take more than one visit, so I hope that your aware of what we're up against." As they walked, the came upon a house, just like the others, tucked into the back and Severus pushed open the door as they entered the front yard. Harry stepped inside the house, aware that it was his first visit to a professor's house, and felt appropriately awkward. He looked around at the couch and decided it was probably best to wait for an invitation to sit before making himself at home.

"Now, why don't you sit down and tell me in your own words why you think that you need to suddenly take up the arts of Occlumency. It wasn't important enough to block out the Dark Lord's visions, but now something that pertains to your own personal life suddenly is?" Snape knew exactly what had brought Harry here, despite what Harry thought his reasons where, but he knew he would only have better access to Harry's fractured brain if he had complete trust from his former pupil.

"I've been having nightmares again. I've been seeing visions of my fiance and, due to my....problems I guess you'd say, I think that she might be playing with the idea of killing herself and I've been seeing it happen. I wanted to know if there was a way to tell the difference between dreams and actual prophecy. Hermione Granger is actually the one that suggested me writing to you, I didn't know that Draco was even involved."

"Ah yes, Granger. Always was a bright girl, if not a bit of a know-it-all. If she had only been in my own house, she may have reached her full potential. So she suggested you contact me?" Snape suddenly was impaled with visions of Hermione having a conversation with Harry involving the writing of the very letter that had brought Harry to him. He noticed how easy it was to get that memory and that there was little or no resistance_. He hasn't practiced at all_, Snape thought. Well, at least he wouldn't have to fight him. So, Mr. Potter and Ms. Granger had been an item at school? Snape's lip curled in disgust as he tried to not think of how many underage students had befouled the school rooms over the years. That memory over, Snape tried to fish for a new one.

"So, your fiance? Is that miss Granger or have you found yet another to fall blindly for your hero act?" Ginerva Weasley. He saw her clearly before Harry's mouth had even opened to utter her name. Several years worth of fond memories struck him so he was nearly knocked back off his feet and he sat firmly down in the chair to steady himself. Laughter, love, friendship. And then it ended. Just as sharp as it had been before, the memories now turned to pain and sorrow. As Harry continued to talk about how much he wanted to love this striking red-headed woman and how he had promised that he would marry her after the war, Snape saw Ginny sit up on the bed, draped only in the bedlinen and wished he could look away. This was a child! Just as he tried to push the memory back away, he felt Harry's body heat rise and an unfamiliar feeling came across his body. Snape had felt anger time and time again, but this time it was foreign to him and he knew he was feeling Harry's emotions.

Snape's eyes snapped shut as Harry's hand fiercely contacted Ginny's soft cheek. He watched as Harry's breathing slowed as the realization of what he had done came upon him and repulsion crept into his stomach.

"You didn't set out to hurt her, did you? What has caused such a change in you, Mr. Potter?" Snape's voice was uncharacteristically caring as he stood once again to cross over to Harry. "If it's what you did that's got you worried that she's upset, why not just let her go? You obviously have no feelings for her, why not let her find someone that does?" Harry sat up, a concerned look on his face as he stood to meet the height of his professor.

"I never meant this to hurt her. I want to love her. I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Then why did you hit her?"

Harry paused for several minutes as he swallowed sentence after sentence of explanation, each more ridiculous than the last. "I don't...I...I never... told you that." Harry looked up at Snape and than sat down on the couch and firmly grabbed the side of his head as if trying to squeeze Snape out. "Get out of my head, get out of here." He started to scream out as he looked up fiercely at his Professor. "I knew this was a bad idea."

"If you had practiced like I told you to, I wouldn't have seen. Maybe it's lucky that you never did find need to study as I think it will require finding out just what has caused this to happen from your own fractured mind. I think that something in your past, perhaps both of your pasts, has brought you to this, not what you've done to her. I think it's deeper than that, and Mr. Malfoy seems to agree with me. There's something in there that needs to come out, Mr. Potter, and you're going to have to let me in to try to piece this together before we can find out where you're hiding your love. Now if you care to continue, I want to see this vision that has brought you here."

Harry started to shake his head no as his entire body began to match the shake. "Please...I don't want to see that again. I can't do it, Professor."

"You have to let me in. I have to see. Did you come here to waste my time or help your wife? Now make up your mind, it's getting late." Snape looked out of the window to see that the sun was indeed setting and his eyelids were falling with the sun. It had been a long day and fighting with Harry was the last thing he had wanted to do. As Harry didn't get up to leave, Severus assumed that he wanted to continue. "You're braver than I'd have given you credit for. Now, just relax. Close your eyes, and try to find the dream that has brought you to me."

Harry's hands had begun to wring in each other to try to calm his shaking arms. He knew what he would see when he closed his eyes, but it was the only way to stop it from actually happening. Both Harry and Ginny's screams rang through Snape's house for several minutes as the scene of Harry's worst nightmare played out like a morbid film in front of them.

_"LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO ME!" Ginny screamed as the light glinted from the bloody razor held tightly in her right hand. Her left wrist weeping blood into pools at her feet. "All I wanted was for you to feel something for me. Damn it Potter, I LOVED you. I needed you to love me. And you couldn't feel a thing for me. Well, tell me fucker, can you feel THIS?" She swiped suddenly down and hard across his wrist tearing the flesh apart as the razor drank of his blood. _

Several heartstopping moments later, Harry stopped screaming and the only sound was his heaving breath matching Snapes. Neither could think of anything to say for nearly half an hour as they sat thinking over what they had just both witnessed. Snape had seen more graphic things in his day, of course, but never had he seen the blood of such innocence flowing so freely by their own hand. He had felt Ginny's pain and Harry's fear and he knew that there had to be something that he could do to fix this. It was, after all, partially his fault. He hadn't stopped it from happening. _Potter, you better strengthen your stomach, son. It only gets worse from here_, Snape thought as he crossed to put his hand on Harry's shivering shoulder.

"That's enough for tonight, Potter. I'll see you at the same time tomorrow, and the day after that if we must. Get some rest."

Harry stood to leave. "Thanks, Professor."

"Potter, you haven't been in school for six years now. I am not your professor. It's Severus."

Harry thought it over before shaking his head. "No, we may not have a classroom, but I think you still have plenty to teach me. I'll see you tomorrow, Professor."

Snape watched as Harry Apparated from his front yard before storming back into the house and roughly shoving a piece of parchment down onto a table and quickly began to scratch out a letter. "Draco, what have you done now?"

^___^

Harry returned to the home of his Occlumency master nearly every day that week. He was surprised that even though he was spending so much time with a man he had dubbed as his enemy second only to Malfoy for so long, he was beginning to quite enjoy the lessons and even the company of someone so logical. Most visits brought Harry to tears as old pains and fears came out in full force. Finally after the sixth day of trying to find just whatever it was that Snape was after, and failing again, Harry got up from his position on his hands and knees on the floor to wipe the dried tears coupled with the new off his cheeks.

"Why?" He asked as he held up his wet hand. "Why can I do this and nothing else? I don't understand how my body can be numb when I hold onto Ginny in our bed, but at the sight of her killing herself over it, I leak like a goddamn pipe! What's wrong with me?" His voice was becoming hoarse from screaming and he hiccuped as he began to sob again.

"I think your friends, Miss Granger and Draco, were on the right track when they wanted to bring out the strongest emotions out of you, but they didn't know that _your_strongest emotions: fear, pain, suffering, would be much stronger than the average person due to your past events, and that love, which until Miss Weasley, you had never fully experienced would be weaker than most who grew up in loving homes. You never had the love of parents, and as we've just seen, you were starved and abused as a child and every person you dared get close to you has either died or left. You have more practice in feeling bad about yourself, Potter, and that is all your body remembers. The pain of loss, the fear of who will be next. You've had these feelings become nearly second nature to your skin and now in the absence of anything comforting like love or happiness, they are allowed to come out in their full force." He bent down and wiped a tear streaming from Harry's eyes. "This tear may very well have been one that's been waiting to fall for years now. Did you ever properly mourn for any of those that you lost? Now, your body is flushing itself of that pain, in the hopes that underneath is the remainder of your joy. Now get up, straighten yourself up, we're having another go before I let you leave tonight. I think we're close." He pulled Harry's arm so that he had no choice but to stand and he tried to regain his composure through his hiccuping.

"You said that all of this began after the war? What do you remember about the night that the Dark Lord was defeated?" Snape watched for any sign of Harry remembering so that he could pull the memory for himself, but as Harry racked his brain, not one coherant thought was available. "Nothing? You defeated the greatest wizard of all time and there's not even a single thing you can remember about it?" Snape knew he was hitting the point. It really didn't surprise him that he couldn't remember, and he told Harry so. "Sometimes, someone can see something so horrible, so disturbing, that their mind simply forgets that it happened to make it possible for them to function."

"But wouldn't Voldemort's death be something happy? Something I'd want to see again and again?"

"You would think so, wouldn't you? It never once occurred to you before now that you couldn't remember the single greatest achievement in your life?" Snape once again watched as Harry racked his brain, looking as if he was hurting in the concentration.

"I don't know why it never accured to me before. I guess I just didn't want to think about it after it was over, you know? I had spent my whole life obsessing over him, and when he was gone I guess I was just tired of thinking of him."

"Sit down, Harry. I think that you're going to need to for this." Snape sat down on the chair across from Harry and looked deep into his eyes, making Harry squirm a little bit in discomfort. "I'm going to share a memory of my own with you in the hopes that it will spark your own version of the story. I am not proud that this is in my life, but you knew my situation and what I had been brought to do to protect Albus's cause. I'll ask you to not judge my actions, but keep in mind the outcome and hopefully it will help to bring yourself into a new light as well." At this Snape took a deep breath as if it might be his last and placed his hands up against the sides of Harry's temples, willing him to see the images he was conjuring up from his past. As he did, silver streams of light wove their way down from Snape's temples, across his arms and up into Harry's head. Harry tried to relax as this close proximity to Snape was very uncomfortable but only found comfort by closing his eyes. However, almost as soon as they closed, his eyes snapped back open as he was pulled fiercely into Snapes' past.

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Chapter 24 Teaser

Harry watched as he was thrown up against a wall and held there by some unseen force, barely able to even struggle against the bonds that held him. None of this made sense to Harry as he tried to locate this in his own memory. This bizarre scene was definitely of importance, but not a trace of it surfaced. That is, until she was brought in.


	24. The end is the beginning is the end

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR THE END IS THE BEGINNING IS THE END

**AN: Thanks so much to my new friends at the Neko's stories community. Thanks also to Manofthefuture for favoriting and all of the people still watching on alerts. It means a lot to me to see your support and I'm glad that you are enjoying. **

**Here is the stuff you've been waiting for. The first looks into the inside of Harry's mind and memories. However, this chapter, and the next one, is EXTREMELY violent, with abuse, sex, rape of a minor, assault....really you name it and it happens. Hints at incest. Hope I haven't scared you off. You must have known that it would be bad to change everyone as significantly as it has. Hope you enjoy! **

Is it bright where you are  
Have the people changed  
Does it make you happy you're so strange  
And in your darkest hour, I hold secret's flame  
You can watch the world devoured in its pain  
Strange...

Lyrics are from The End is the beginning is the End by Smashing Pumpkins

It was almost like looking down into the Pensieve as he was seeing the room they had entered from above. It was a dark, dank dungeon type room and torches burned along all of the walls. Standing around a burning circle of purple flames around the center of the room, nearly fifty people cloaked in Deatheater robes and skeleton masks chanted in verses of languages Harry didn't recognize. He scanned the room searching for Snape as it was his memory but couldn't find him. Lucius Malfoy's silvery blond hair was easier to locate, and next to him the giant forms of Crabbe and Goyle were obvious. Harry's jaw clenched as he noticed the sultry form of Bellatrix Lestrange walk across the circle to whisper into Lucius's ear, receiving sharp glares from a blond female form standing beside him. Finally Harry's eyes located the slithering form of Snape, and in between his arms was a struggling youth that only by the glint off the glasses did Harry recognize as his younger self.

Harry watched as he was thrown up against a wall and held there by some unseen force, barely able to even struggle against the bonds that held him. None of this made sense to Harry as he tried to locate this in his own memory. This bizarre scene was definitely of importance, but not a trace of it surfaced. That is, until she was brought in.

Harry's head felt like it was going to explode as the horrible vision began to burst through and meshed with the one Snape was already playing. The room changed to be viewed from past Harry's angle and as Snape stood back into an off set room, Harry watched, unable to stop it now as he had been then, Ginny's struggling form being levitated into the middle of the flames to rest on the stone floor of the dungeon.

"Ginny! Get out!" Harry heard himself scream through a strangled throat that made his voice sound weak and ill. He watched as Ginny looked up from the floor, her blood running over the stone, seeping from her mouth and nose as a dark purple welt formed on her cheek. Looking over at himself he saw as much blood coming from the open cuts on his own body and knew that they had been fighting long before now.

The chanting became louder as a ritual dance progressed around Ginny's shivering body. The chanting became nearly deafening until, all at once, it stopped. For a moment, nothing moved but the dancing flame around Ginny. Suddenly, as if a great serge of electricity was coursing through the wall behind him, Harry began to seize, screaming in agony for nearly a minute. Ginny couldn't tear her eyes away from her struggling love until a new form stepped forward through the flames.

"Potter. Weasely. So glad that you could join me in my hour of triumph." Voldemorts' intimidating physique formed from the smoke, a look of sheer exhilaration on his face. He turned to look at Harry, still gasping for breath, and sneered as if his mere presence was enough to make him sick. "As for now, Harry, you'll have to settle for being just a bystander. Miss Weasley here is going to be our guest of honor. But don't worry. We have a fine parting gift for you as well, you're just going to have to be patient." His sneer turned into a smirk, nastier than Draco had ever dreamed of achieving.

He turned his back on Harry, still trying in vain to break the force around him, to eye the beautiful youth lying on the floor, the purple flames dancing off the water shimmering from her eyes. "Now, now, dear child. If you let the tears fall now, they might dry out before we're finished. Save those tears for later." He crossed the flames without even a flinch of pain and knelt down near Ginny who laid too terrified to move as he grasped her chin firmly in his fingers and licked the tears from her cheeks. "Yes, much later. Don't waste them on these mortals. When you're mine, then they can flow." He kissed her cheek softly and she pulled away in disgust. The Dark Lord didn't retaliate, even flinch, but he did smile at her look of disgust. "You will suffer. You will bleed. And then, you will watch as the immortal before you becomes God with the death of your love, before you beg me to let you join him." He stood and towered over her as she looked up from the floor trying to fathom what terrors await her. His arms outstretched to his most loyal followers, his robes billowing behind him completely engulfed in the flames which neither scorched his robes or burned his skin. He truly was an awesome being, his features holding the lingering look of great beauty in it's time, his posture and manor that of someone who had complete confidence in every move of their sculptured form. His followers, who had spent many hours in the presence of this being, still tremored slightly as he crossed the room to stand next to the boy wonder, still fighting as if the next move would free him.

"Now, my dear boy, I don't want you to think that I'm leaving you out of the fun, so I'll let you chose where we will begin. Deep inside your so-called pure heart there is a black spot, an impurity that you can't hide, where you harbor a deep loathing and revenge that if you're not careful, will bring you to murder. But you couldn't do that? You're the "Boy-Who-Lived", you couldn't do exactly what you're after me for now, could you? It's so easy, Harry, to hold someone's life in the palm of your hand as you squeeze it from their body. You've seen it, dreamt about doing it, and for what? To pay them back for killing someone you loved? Did you ever stop to think about the people that loved them? No, of course not, because those rules only apply if they're on the "good side". People as evil as I should be forced to suffer and lose their family. You and I are not that different. Both without family. But you've found a new family in your little friends haven't you? You'd hate to see something happen to them, but don't you think I feel the same about my family? My friends?"

Harry looked at Voldemort defiantly as he was determined to keep him from his thoughts. "Your friends? You'd let any one of them die to let you live. They're just puppets to you to get what you want. They don't matter. You only keep them around so they can do your bidding."

Voldemort's face broke into a wide smile that made Harry more uncomfortable than anything else he could have done. "Ahh, you see, we have more in common than you think. Where are your dear 'friends' right now Harry? Are they not doing _your_ bidding, risking their lives to fight _your_war? The Prophecy tells us that this is to be a battle between you and I. There is no mention of Miss Weasley, or the werewolf, or even Albus Dumbledore needing to be involved. But they will all die for you, Harry. And you will still fail. Pity," He looked over his shoulder at Ginny, "such a pretty young thing." Harry gave a great thrust from his restraints but only managed to bring himself less than an inch from the wall. "She will now suffer for your beliefs Harry, and I will let you chose the people that will punish her for loving you." Voldemort looked deeply into Harry's eyes as he caressed the side of the struggling boys face. "It's in there, Harry, and you're going to tell me." He leaned forward and ran his serpent tongue over Harry's shivering lips before snapping his head firmly to the right to face his circle of followers. "Bellatrix. If you'd do the honors."

Breaking the circle, Bellatrix stepped forward as if she had just won a drawing, her lips curled in a lustful smirk. Voldemort looked over at Harry, a look of pure triumph on his face. "Don't look so disappointed, Mr. Potter, you chose her. She is quite the choice. Good work, old man." He smiled over at Bella, her mask now shed, as she hungrily eyed Ginny through the flames. "Your heart beats with hatred for her, yearns for her death. You couldn't hide that from me, no matter how hard you tried. Now she will be the one to start off the fun."

" Voldemort....leave her out of this....you want me? Take me! Just leave her alone....She doesn't love me. We're not even really friends. You've got the wrong girl." Voldemort wasn't convinced by Harry's rantings.

"Harry, you think you can hide that from me? You wear your emotions on your sleeve. Still want to deny your love, while she's conscious enough to hear you?" Harry made sure to get complete eye contact with Ginny to convey to her that it wasn't true and he could tell she understood what he had tried to do for her. "It's really a shame then. Seems like you could at least have died with a little pleasure in your life." He turned to look at his fellow Death Eaters before staring down at Ginny, the same animalistic hunger in his eyes as he licked his lips as if trying to taste her. "Virgin meat, boys." This statement was followed by catcalls and cheering that filled both Harry and Ginny with the deepest fear they had felt yet.

"Back off, you dogs, she's mine." Bellatrix pulled out her wand and parted the flames, opening a door in the circle. For the first time since being carried in, Ginny found her legs and got up to run. She reached the edge of the flames and felt the heat searing off the tips of her hair. The heat became too intense and, despite the need to flee, she was stopped in her tracks. She searched Harry's eyes for the strength to brave the fire, but just as she found it, she was grabbed fiercely from behind by a strong hand with long black nails which dug into her neck. "Leaving so soon, my love? The fun is just beginning." Ginny suddenly lost all control of her body as she was overtaken with a feeling of total bliss. Her mind was blank and she looked as though she felt as if she was floating.

As Harry watched, Ginny turned slowly towards the black haired beauty behind her and bowed her head in utter submission.

"Ginny, run! What are you doing?" Harry screamed as Bella began to laugh.

"She's mine, Potter. She'll do whatever I ask. Won't you, love?" As she dug her nails down the side of Ginny's cheek, Ginny nodded her head in agreement. Harry watched as Bella brought her head down to nibble on the bottom lip of his girl. That was his lip! But to his horror, Ginny not only kissed back, but began to slide her hand up Bella's inner thigh, moving the slit in her skirt so that her hand would be on bare skin. As the circle watched, chanting and cheering her on, Ginny willingly dipped her hands into the depths of the Lestrange woman who moaned when she did well and slapped her when she was bored. Ginny took it all in stride as if the brutal blows to her head didn't even phase her, in fact she acted as if she quite enjoyed them. As Bella tired of Ginny's hands she layed on her back, pulling Ginny down until her lips where forced to pleasure her in other ways. Harry turned his head and was sick over his shirt as Voldemort stood by, a pleasing look on his face at the show progressing around him.

"Not to your liking, Potter? Well, we mustn't displease our guest shall we? Bella, finish yourself later. Potter grows tired of you. Release that girl. I want her to know what is happening to her." As he waved his hand, Ginny raised her head with a look of absolute disgust as she reached up to wipe Bella off of her lips. Her fingers trembled as the reality of what had happened hit her and she looked over at Harry, pure desperation in her eyes.

"Harry, help me." Ginny mouthed and Harry found a new strength to struggle.

"Now, now, young boy. You really never learn do you? You'll soon find why I asked Severus to perform the binding spells. He seems to have a bit of a talent, as I'm sure that you're experiencing. Now just relax and tell me, how do you wish to continue the party?" Harry closed his eyes, wishing more than anything that he had practiced harder in his fifth year. He knew he couldn't hold him out, even felt himself at that very moment being violated by Voldemort's searching and just as he thought he was gaining control, he heard Voldemort begin to laugh again.

"This is really going to please him." He turned his head as if he couldn't wait to deliver the news to the next candidate. He became agitated quickly as the one he searched for wasn't immidiatly at his comand. "SEVERUS!"

Present Harry turned to look wide-eyed at his potions master who wouldn't meet his stare. "Just watch, Potter. You cannot judge me before the crime has even been committed."

From the corner behind past Harry, Snape materialized out of the shadows, his black cloak and greasy black hair making his pale silhouette the only visible thing. "Ah, Severus. Mr. Potter has just selected you to hold the privilege of showing his woman the ways of a man. And what a better way than for a Professor to teach her. She's yours, my loyal servant. Make me proud."

Snape stood for several minutes, his face unreadable as he looked between his master and the now sobbing girl. "I had just come to tell you, my Lord, that I heard trespassers outside. I think perhaps, I would do better to go find out what the noise is about, seeing as how it wouldn't be wise to have the ceremony interrupted."

Voldemort looked over his comrade and Harry recognized on Snape the face of someone that was blocking out a probing mind. "Crabbe, Goyle, go see what this noise outside is. Let them handle it, Severus. I wouldn't want to disappoint Harry now."

"Do you think it's wise, master, to trust such a task on those two? I best go make sure it gets done properly."

"You'd deny my wishes, Snape?"

"No, my Lord. It is my honor to follow them, but, not to overstep your ruling, I think you know that it is not wise to allow those two to take on the Order alone. You know as well as I that it is they that snap the twigs above our heads." He waited for several moments as if waiting to be denied exit, but all he received was a slight nod in agreement.

"However, Severus, you cannot just deny Potter either." He pulled Snapes wand from his robes with the flick of his wrist and extended it mid-air in offering. "As you go..."

Harry saw the hesitation. Voldemort saw the hesitation, and then the wand was in Snapes hand and Ginny's scream echoed through the cavern.

Present Snape looked over at Harry and saw that now it was Harry that couldn't meet his glance. "I had to, you understand that. It would have been all of our lives if I had let him know that I was lying about the noise and my loyalty. At this point, the only members of the Order left to fight was Ms. Granger, Mr. Weasley, and Draco, and the first two were unconscious, if I remember correctly." Harry watched Ginny seize on the floor as Crucio racked her body with pain, and silently nodded a small curt understanding.

As Snape left, Voldemort watched him leave and Harry silently wondered with this new knowledge if he knew that he was being betrayed at that moment. "Severus has more important things to do than to pleasure you, Harry. So, who will take his place as the first to penetrate the innocence?" This question was posed to the chanting circle instead of Harry. Harry looked over Voldemort's shoulder and saw a flash of silver blond coming down the steps of the dungeon. "_Malfoy_?" His mind whispered, but not quietly enough.

"Malfoy? Harry, what a noble choice. I'm glad that you are so willing to cooperate." Voldemort met eyes with Lucius Malfoy who began to disrobe, handing it over to his wife who took the robes grudgingly.

Harry met eyes with the Malfoy he had meant and pleaded for him to intervene. Draco seemed to have lost his nerve at the sight of his father, however, and cowered against the wall, unable to even look Harry in the eye anymore. Harry cursed him verbally and was sure that Voldemort now also knew of the blond boy crouching on the stairs.

Lucius looked like he was to receive a noble honor, placing his mask firmly on his head and adjusting his gloves on his hands. He would serve his master but nothing would make him touch a filthy blood traitor child. As he handed his serpent head cane to his wife, she looked pleadingly into his eyes.

"Lucius, don't. She's only a child. Younger than your own son." She was stopped short as the cane that should have been layed gently in her hands swept firmly across her face.

"How dare you defy the Dark Lord. This is a great honor. You will die for treason if you continue to try to dissuade me from doing my master's bidding." No one from the circle moved toward Narcissa as she began to sob and fell onto the stone floor. She looked up and met Ginny's eyes through the flames and Ginny very distinctly saw an apology deep within those eyes.

"I'm sorry, sweet child. I was wrong." A flash of green light swept through the room and then on the floor sprawled the shimmering gold of Narcissa's blond hair. Voldemort nodded his approval as Lucius re-sheathed his wand.

"Weakness at this point will not be tolerated." Voldemort's voice echoed around the walls and Harry looked up to find Draco's horrified eyes unmoving from the still body of his murdered mother.

Lucius parted the flames as his sister-in-law had done before and he made sure to look directly at Bella as he closed the circle behind him. She stood up proudly as if to show him that she was impressed with his dedication and a smirk crossed his betraying lips. He walked forward towards the screaming girl, as he conjured up a stone slab and lifted her weightlessly into the air. As she was transferred to the slab, her clothing vanished around her and she was left vulnerable as she was chained down on the cold granite.

"Harry, don't let this happen. Help me!" She twisted and struggled to get out of her bonds but only succeeded in ripping the skin off her wrists and ankles, covering her arms in running red streams. Present Harry was forcefully reminded of his vision and knew now that it had some substance, if not true prophecy, it was at least partial recollection. He remembered that she was screaming for him as she begged for him to save her and slitting her own wrists to try to save herself. He looked over at himself, chained against the wall, unable to save her and felt a surge of dedication rise in his stomach. He was doing this for her, watching this for her, and even though he knew he hadn't saved her then, he was sure as hell going to save her now.

Lucius layed on top of the slab, a sinister sneer on his face as the chanting once again commenced around them. Narcissa's body was kicked roughly from the circle and they tightened their ranks, eager to see Ginny's undoing. Harry was forced to look away as Lucius roughly entered the screaming girl and as her screams turned from horror to pain, Harry was sick again. He began screaming to her, trying to keep her mind on anything other than what was going on and as she heard his voice, she turned her head to look deep into his eyes, the pain increasing in hers with each thrust, and he saw her lips part, shakily, in pleading.

"Kill me, Harry. Kill me."

Harry struggled yet again against his binds to get to his love, as Voldemort crossed to taunt the frustrated lover. "She asked you for a simple favor, Mr. Potter. Surely you can oblige." He pulled Harry's shirt up revealing his wand tucked into the back of his pants. He lifted it out in offering, as he had done for Snape, and released Harry's right arm, begging for him to take it. As Harry reached up to take the wand however, it was roughly pulled away and snapped against the far wall. "You better think again before toying with that idea, Harry. I would not be so eager to attempt to kill someone as powerful as Lucius while you were still tied against a wall. I offered you one chance to redeem your love and you failed it with a pitiful attempt to attack Mr. Malfoy. Now you can watch her die at our hands, instead of at yours like she so desperately wanted. I'm sorry Miss Weasley, but Mr. Potter doesn't love you enough to free you."

Lucius obviously climaxed and then he ripped himself forcefully from her as if glad to be free of her. "When were you planning on telling Potter that you were not a virgin?" He eyed her knowingly as she continued to sob. As he walked to leave the circle, he was stopped in his tracks by an unexpected voice echoing through the chamber.

"Leave them alone! " Draco had found his voice and leapt off the steps into the midst of the chanting Death Eaters. He landed gracefully knelt down on one knee and supported by his hands before standing up to his full height to face his long time fear with a look of vindiction on his face. He had found his courage in the face of his murdered mother and his agonizing friend's screams and there was not a hint of his childhood fear in his steel grey eyes. Lucius was caught off guard by the sudden disrespect and missed the cue when Draco pulled his wand and knocked him backwards into the circle, knocking down Bella in his travels.

"How dare you defy me, child? And in front of your Lord and Master."

"How dare I defy you? I have defied everything you stood for for years now, and if you had ever payed any attention to me you would have known that. My Lord and Master is not in this room." He looked defiantly over at Voldemort and noticed that all the Death Eaters had drawn their wands and he was now the target of at least fifty executioners. Draco closed his eyes, preparing for the pain of death, but as the minutes ticked by, it didn't come. He slowly dared to open his eyes and his first view was that of a tear on Ginny's cheek, frozen and unmoving down it's watery path. His father and his companion's wands stayed fixed on his spot, but not one of them made any attempt to fire. Voldemort himself sat frozen in a half sneer, as he awaited Draco's demise which seemed farther away with every tick of Draco's watch. He looked around, even dared one of them to move, but nothing did until a voice came flowing down the stairs.

"Draco, do you wish to have us both killed by the end of the evening or do what you came down here to do?" Snape's voice was cold, but comforting, and he walked down the stairs easily to join his Godson. "I'll move the two of you to a safe location where you can tell your father whatever you wish, and yes even attempt to avenge your mother, but I will not let you risk my life as well as yours in an effort to take on the entire Death Eater clan."

"But, how did you...?"

"I've spent many years practicing controlling space-time, and I do believe that it is a talent that I shall be thankful for once the Dark Lord realizes that you are missing. Now, is this what you want to do? Knowing that your father is very powerful, and that you might not live long enough to avenge anyone?"

"Why don't I just kill him before he can move?" Draco pointed his wand at his father and looked up questioningly at his Godfather.

"Because then you would be one of them." Draco nodded in understanding and Snape looked at this child that had suddenly grown into a man in less than a minute. "I'll help you to move them, but that's as far as I can help. I cannot be seen defying the Dark Lord yet as we can't be sure that Potter is going to survive this meeting."

Draco looked back and forth between Harry and Ginny then up to Snape. "Why are you going to help me and not them, than?"

"I may be able to stop and control time, but I cannot change destiny. This battle has been prophecized, I heard it myself, and as it has been told, 'neither can live while the other survives'. It's not right, but either Harry or Voldemort must die for the world to continue. We'll just pray that Harry is strong enough. However," he walked over to Ginny and waved his wand over her, nearly healing over all of the cuts on her body and drying the tear on her cheek, "this one is just an innocent bystander. Her path is not set and I think Potter needs her strength to do what he needs to do." He hadn't apologized verbally for attacking her, but present Harry knew that in that one motion of his hand, he had redeemed himself for anything he had ever done to Harry during school.

As Voldemort called for the attack on Draco to commence, many confused faces could be seen searching for the boy that had just disappeared in front of their eyes. Lucius was also missing, and as the search continued, Voldemorts lip curled in a disgusted growl.

"Outside, now! Find the boy, and bring him to me. He shall join his companion on the slab." The Death Eaters scrambled to follow their master's orders, and Harry and Ginny shared a confused look. She looked over her body and noticed that it no longer hurt when she moved her arms and the blood was dried on her wrists. Her head wasn't pounding like it had before and she felt uplifted and even hopeful.

Voldemort, obviously not satisfied that his followers where capable of the task he had set them, began to cross to the stairs out of the chamber. "I trust you will not leave," he mocked the fatigued lovers. "Just remember, there is nothing like being tortured when the one that is making you bleed doesn't have to watch it flow. You will not be unwatched. I will be sure that you will not be leaving me before I have finished all I want to with you."

As the door closed behind him, Ginny began to scream for Harry to get her off her prison slab. "Harry, please, do something before they come back. We have to get out of...." Before she could even finish the sentence they were both contorted by the pain searing through their body's. An unseen wand was performing Crucio and Harry knew that Voldemort had obviously wanted to make sure that they knew he was still in control.

In between the moments when their screams echoed through the chamber, Harry tried to comfort Ginny with stories of school and moments they had with each other until the pain was so severe that he was unable to even breath properly. When that time came, they both just sat with their eyes closed, imagining that they where holding each other anywhere but here.

**----------------------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 25 Teaser**

They say that lightning will never strike the same place twice, that power corrupts, and that love is blind. In that instant, however, Ginny found that power can also be an incredible ally, that love sees and knows all and that even lightning will disobey God's laws if need be.


	25. A Prophecy relived

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE A PROPHECY RELIVED

Hours, possibly days went by, and only faint breathing punctuated the dungeon. No one seemed to be coming back to release the two prisoners of war and yet they were not forgotten. Although it seemed to come farther in between, they had continued to be tortured by an unseen force. Tear- like droplets of blood ran from the corners of Harry's eyes as he continued to hit his head against the wall behind him. They knew they were going to die. It was inevitable. They just had never thought they would welcome it so easily.

"Harry, are you still...awake?" Ginny asked weakly. When he didn't reply immediately she twisted her head around to look over at him. His head had fallen to his chest, but he was breathing. "Don't leave me here, Harry. You have to hold on."

At this, he lifted his head slowly and attempted to give her a reasurring smile. "I won't leave without you, kid. That's a promise." They shared a sweet smile of hope before once again being thrown into seizing fits against the stone to which they were both held. After this fit, however, a side of Harry came out that made Ginny jump farther from the slab than she had yet.

"That's it, you mother-fucking piece of shit! I've had it! Either get your pussy ass, cock sucking, fuck faced dick hole down here and face me now or let's go and find another way to jack yourself off! I'm tired of this bullshit stalling. You know you can't beat me! You're just too chicken shit to admit that your gonna get your ass handed to you by a seventeen year old kid. Now get down here so I can make you my bitch!"

"Harry!" Ginny sounded offended, as if she had virgin ears from such obsenities. "Do you really think it's such a good idea to use such...controversial...ways of calling him out? I mean, he does sort of have the upper hand, doesn't he?"

"It would do well to listen to your lady, Mr. Potter." A chilling voice echoed down the hall. Voldemort appeared, looking ready to accept Harry's outburst. "I wouldn't be so prepared to see me again. Now, if you're quiet finished being rude." Harry glared at him, his teeth grinding before he spat on the floor. "Now, now. That's not very gentleman like. Honestly, what did you ever see in him?" He posed the question to Ginny as he walked through the flames to stand next to her. Her shivering naked form clenched at his hands which breezed overtop of her, only nearly making contact with her sweating skin. His hands were tomb cold and her skin crawled with goosebumps as he ran from her ankles to the top of her head before walking past to cross to Harry.

"Now, assuming that my bidding has been done, I'll need a new heir. If you can keep that pub mouth under control, Potter, I have a ceremony to continue. You are quite lucky, Potter. You have spent an evening in my presence, getting personal attention, and now you get to watch as my heir is conceived before being of enough importance to be personally killed by me. Only those of importance of the likes of my filthy muggle father have had that honor. And you..." He crossed back towards Ginny. "Only two others have had the honor of being a vessel for a God the likes of me." He looked over at the still form of Narcissa, greying from the lack of blood from her limbs. "You are very lucky, little one." Ginny's eyes nearly jumped from her head as she realized what path had been planned ahead of her.

"Leave her the fuck alone, you fucking git! If you lay as much as one fucking goddamn hand on her...." Harry appeared to be choking on the end of the sentance as his throat visably began to clench shut. Unseen hands strangled him from breathing and his lips began to taint blue.

"Breathing, for you, will now be earned, not gifted." He pulled his hand down and Harry's lips retained a little of their color although not completely. He was obviously still struggling, but every minute or so he was allowed an audible gasp to sustain him. "I'm sorry, my dear. He obviously doesn't know how to behave in front of a lady. You are a special breed, Miss Weasley. A pure blood witch from a pure line. Not many women are left that have such amazing claim to a great race of Magic. I've been searching your family lines for one worthy of carrying my child and I thought I had found it in Narcissa. Her son was everything I had thought worthy of carrying on my work. Perhaps your child will not defy me. She was obviously not strong enough. I just wish she had shown her true weakness before I had wasted my seed on her traitor son. You have withstood several hours of testing, with very little signs of breaking down." He passed his hand once again over her body and noticed there was very little bruising or open wounds. "I think I may have finally found a woman worthy of this great honor."

"Take....me." Harry gasped through clenched teeth.

"Are you ready to play nicely? Or do I have to wash you mouth out with soap?" Voldemort sneered as he released Harry from his strangling hold.

"Take me. I'll do it. I have as much pure blood in my fathers lineage. Even founders blood. Slytherin and Gryffindor blood mixed. You couldn't ask for a better mix than that. Let her go, and leave her alone, and I'll do whatever you ask." He looked over at Ginny. "Even if it means being you're heir."

"Truly a noble proposition, Harry. I never thought it of you. Of course, you've forgotten that you find yourself too good to follow orders, even something as simple as school rules, so what do you think makes me believe you will be worthy of following my footsteps. I need someone that will bow to my every whim, follow my every order, and not question anything I say. You have proven time and time again that you find yourself above such things, but Miss Weasley here, she's followed every crazy notion that you have thrown at her. She's obviously worthy and willing." Voldemort began to lower himself over Ginny's shivering body as she choked on the scream that wouldn't come.

Ginny trembled as she felt the weight of Voldemort lower over her, his breath, ice cold against her tear and sweat covered cheeks. As he lowered his body, Ginny saw the red glint in his eyes narrow into slits as if like an animal preparing to strike. As he began to disrobe, Ginny felt a heat begin to rise that had nothing to do with her throbbing heart. As she prepared herself for the pain that was sure to come she felt the air in the room becoming thicker, almost harder to breath. The hair on her arms began to stand on end and even in a room full of Death Eaters, Ginny had never felt the power that was filling the room like water flows over a damn.

They say that lightening will never strike the same place twice, that power corrupts, and that love is blind. In that instant, however, Ginny found that power can also be an incredible ally, that love sees and knows all and that even lightning will disobey Gods laws if needs be.

Ginny watched as a bolt of lightening shot over her head and pierced Voldemort in the chest, knocking him backwards into the staircase nearly fifty feet behind him, cracking the stone. Ginny turned her head as another lightning bolt streaked by and she continued to struggle on the thick air as Harry pinned Voldemort to the staircase with his wand pointed at his chest, his mop of black hair nearly standing on end as more power then Ginny had ever seen emanated from his body.

"Well, played young master." Voldemort gasped, obviously having trouble catching his breath as he had not expected the attack.

"I let you live, for the moment, on two conditions." Harry said, his voice steady even as his body compulsively jumped back and forth as if he was trying to fight himself to keep from killing him right then.

"Do you really believe you are in any place to give me conditions?" Voldemort laughed as he tried to stand up. A shot from Harry's wand hit the ground between Voldemort's legs causing a three foot creator in front of him.

"I could just kill you now." Harry said.

"Just kill him Harry. What are you doing?" Ginny screamed.

"What the hell you stupid git, just kill him now!" Harry screamed at his past self.

"You were trying to show nobility in front of your lady." Harry jumped as he had almost forgotten that Snape still stood beside him. "Nobility in war is an amazing attribute, one you were trying to show you had so you would not be just a senseless murderer. In order to show nobility, however, you must know the position of your enemy on the matter. It doesn't do well to show a weakness like nobility to someone that will take advantage of it." Harry suddenly felt as if he was sitting an exam with his professor, one he had already failed. Slowly, as if afraid to see what would happen next, Harry turned his head.

"Alright, young Potter, what are your commands?" Voldemort bowed his head in a mocking surrender.

"You let her go, right now, and you never touch a single hair on her head again."

"Done, and number two?"

"You look at me while I kill you. I wanna see the light leave your eyes." Harry's voice trembled as the memory of the pain those words had caused him returned. He had hoped to see the same fear in Voldemort but he only received a simple nod. Harry began to back up until he felt the cold of the stone against the back of his knees. He reached behind him, wand still set on Voldemort to try to untie Ginny's wrists manually. Unable to do so he turned to untie them.

Ginny felt the furiousity that Harry was tearing at the ropes with and in her tear streaked eyes she saw the worry of having his back turned racing over his face. "I'll get you out of this Gin, you're safe." Harry forged a smile before his face was stricken with an unfamiliar expression. He stopped his mad tear at the ropes and began to play with Ginny's hair.

"Harry, what are you doing? We have to get out of here."

Harry leaned down and gently kissed Ginny's lips before bitting fiercely on the bottom lip, drawing blood. "I'm not coming home." Harry said in a voice very different from his own. As he was thrown into the stone, Ginny's face became splattered with blood as Harry's shirt was torn open from the back. Harry's wand snapped loudly in half against the slab before hitting the ground.

Ginny's face distorted in a sneer as Harry felt the gash that was soaking his clothing. Her voice was breathy and very unlike hers as she began to fiendishly laugh. "You've fought me enough to know you should never have turned your back on me, boy." Harry was once again hit in the back and lifted forcefully into the air before being thrown across the dungeon into the opposite wall, his glasses falling to the ground and shattering into unrepairable pieces.

Regaining herself, Ginny struggled madly at her binds until she realized that she could pull her wrist out of one of the ropes. She sat up and began to tear at the rope around the other arm, tearing her fingernails and skin in the rush to get herself freed.

"Get up Harry!" Screamed three sets of voices. Ginny in the hopes that he was OK, Voldemort as a challenge to continue, and present Harry because he knew he was going to get hit whether he stood or not. Very slowly, Harry pushed himself off the ground, wincing in pain, as he stood and tried to regain his composure. Ginny saw him frantically dig in his pockets and she looked down at the shattered remains of his wand he would not find.

Future Harry pulled his own glasses down his face and knew that even though his eyesight had worsened a bit since school, his past self was now fighting blind. "I get out of this, right Professor? I mean, I'm standing here, aren't I?" Harry asked Snape, but the only response he got was a long pointed finger.

Ginny watched in horror as Voldemort's wand began to emit a familiar green glow as Harry continued to search his pockets, completely unknowing of the danger that was unfolding right in front of him. Ginny screamed out Harry's name as the light shot across the room from the tip of Voldemort's wand. She turned her head, unable to force herself to watch the death of her beloved. She waited with bated breath to hear the sound of his body hitting the ground, the final sounds of his life, but as the minutes ticked on, it didn't come. Knowing it could not last this long, Ginny forced herself to look over her shoulder. She almost jumped off the slab at the site in front of her.

Harry still stood, his hands in front of his face in protection, a shield of energy surrounding him and keeping the green glow of the spell at bay. His hair stood completely on it's ends and even Voldemorts jaw had dropped at the power Harry was using. Harry began to reach behind him pulling the energy closer to his body before he threw it forward directly back at it's sender who only barely reacted in time to divert it harmlessly into the wall behind him.

"Damn it, Potter. Why won't you just die!? You're arrogance and inability to follow orders is trying. You've lost. Admit defeat and bow to you're master. You're refusal to do so is only making me think that death is not enough of a lesson for you." Voldemort got a sinister look on his face as a sneer began to creep up his otherwise furious face. "No, not enough of a lesson for you at all." The expression on Harry's face made it very clear to all that he hadn't seen Voldemort turn and face a now frantically trapped Ginny.

"Avada Kadavra." Ginny turned her head, not able to face her almost welcomed death. Her hair brushed quickly past her eyes as a figure dashed in front of her. The tears for her own life now chocked her as she realized her life had been spared at the cost of another.

Harry's body was immersed in the glowing light and began to rise bodily off the ground. Voldemort screamed in agony as if holding his wand was searing through his flesh. The agony turned to anguish in final breaths as he saw the slight flutter of Harry's eyelids. Harry began to scream as he awakened to his limbs being torn from his body and his forehead splitting open. Long after the following explosion that shook the granite wall and set the stones ablaze, their screams still echoed across the collapsed walls. Voldemort's body and robes had become nothing more than ash that mixed and sifted away with the billowing smoke.

Harry fell the fifty feet to the floor and hit, side first, with a sickening thud. Ginny held her breath as she waited for him, once again, to show signs of life. The boy who seemed to have nine lives now lay still as the stone he had fallen onto.

"Harry, don't you dare do this to me!" Ginny screamed as she ripped her remaining hand from the ropes. She ran over to him and knelt besides his body, afraid to touch it in case it was becoming cold. Even in the flickering of the flames growing around them, Ginny recognized the thick feel of the puddle she had knelt into. Slowly, she turned Harry over to examine the gaping hole that the jagged rock had ripped into the side of Harry's head, allowing his life to escape slowly around Ginny's knees.

"Harry, we've got to stop this bleeding and get you out of here." Ginny took on her motherly tone as her shaking hands ripped his shirt into strips and placed them firmly against the now familiar wound. Future Harry fingered the scar alongside his ear that now had an origin, his eyes growing with fear at the growing lake soaking his body.

Ginny began trying to place Harry's arm around her neck but it seemed he wasn't even trying to help her.

"Gin...Ginny, I can't see. I'm..not..." Harry began to cough out the words but was silenced.

"You're not going to leave me, Potter, but you've got to help me. I can't lift you." Ginny's voice was more frantic now as the flames grew closer.

Suddenly, redemption came in the cocky undertones of a familiar voice. "What the hell are you two doing down here?" Draco's drawl came followed by Hermione's light cough. "Can't you see this fucking place is on fire?"

Ginny was nearly jumping as she saw a way out. She threw away the last bit of soaked cloth and stared hungrily at the fabric hugging Malfoy. It was then that she saw the smirk on his face as he looked between Harry's tattered clothing and Ginny's, now remembered, naked form. She saw the wheels turning in his head and wished she had an idea of where her own clothes were.

"Not the time, Malfoy. Harry's hurt. I need help to carry him." Hermione had looked past Ginny's nude form to her blood stained hands and legs and Harry's seizing body.

"Just leave him, Ginny! He's as good as dead, that doesn't mean we have to be." Draco tried to drag Ginny away as he dodged her fists and legs flailing to get away from his grasp. Ginny, finally free of his arms, turned and slapped him fiercely across the face.

"He will not die for people like you that won't even respect what he just did for us." Ginny ran back to Harry's body and knelt back down, trying once again to lift him. "Come now, Harry. We have to get going."

"Gin..Gin...he's right. I'm not..leaving here." Harry began coughing, and Ginny flinched at the blood that splattered her face as he began to choke.

"Damn it, Potter! Don't talk like that." Ginny began to cry as she realized the truth in what she now knew to be his final words. She heard her sobs echoing from the shivering form of Hermione that had turned to start up the stairs, unable to watch this scene.

"I will always...Ginny..." Harry's voice was becoming so low that Ginny had to place her ear on his chin just to make out what he was saying. His breathing had shallowed and his focus dropped in and out. Each time he stopped speaking, she was sure that he would never start again. "I'll...never leave...I love you."

Ginny's tears began to freely flow at the sound of the words she had so longed to here. "I love you too, Harry. I won't leave you down here. I promise." Ginny leaned forward and began to kiss his blood soaked lips and felt them tremble as his breathing became impossible. His last breath shot directly down her throat, but even in the shock of his stillness, Ginny couldn't tear herself from his lips.

^_^

Down in Ginny's office, her eyes began to blur as portrait after portrait passed in front of her face. She had been working for hours and it seemed that the night would never end. However, when she came across a pair of familiar eyes, her heart as well as her movement stopped. The rest of her work and her jacket lay forgotten on the table as she clung the painting to her chest and ran across the empty lobby to the Ministry. She had never seen anything like this before, and she needed some answers.

^_^

As future Harry began to realize the severity of what he had just witnessed, everything turned to black and Snape's living room came into focus. "No, no. What happened? Where did it go? This doesn't make sense. I'm here aren't I? How did I die if I'm standing right here?" Harry was looking around as if trying to find where the dungeon had gone.

"That is all we see, because that is all you knew." Snape said as he began to rub his temples. "The rest of that memory rests in another person's mind. You were no longer there, so you'll have to find someone else that was. And with that, we have reached the end of what I can help you with. I wish you luck." Harry was on the porch staring at the closed doorway in front of him before he realized what happened. He had been dismissed with more questions that remained unanswered than when he had first come to this door.

----------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 26 Teaser

"Is there any answer that I could give you that would make you stop?" Hermione asked as she looked up over the top of her eyes, fear beginning to show as she felt the muscles in her shoulder spasm.

Downstairs in the kitchen, Draco spilled his butterbeer across the table as he heard the bloodcurdling scream that had dripped down the stairs and nearly knocked him off his chair. It took less than a second for him to pull his wand out of his pocket and began his race up the stairs, jumping them three at a time.


	26. Hidden Love And Pain

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX HIDDEN LOVE AND PAIN

**AN: This, once again, contains scenes of abuse. Thank you to all of my fans that have added Skin Deep to your favorites including new comer mamawitke. You are all my inspiration to continue posting. A big thanks goes to BloodyFang and AlinaLotus who've added me as a favorite author. That means so much to me and I don't think that I've told you yet. I hope your ready for an exciting climax because it's all starting to fall into place.**

Here I am, once again

I'm torn into pieces.

Can't deny it, can't pretend,

just thought you were the one.

Broken up, deep inside,

but you won't get to see the tears I cry

Behind these hazel eyes

Hermione sat on her bed, reading over one of the many books that she had brought home from Diagon Alley. Throughout the entire week she had done this, but unlike her school days, she hadn't even made it through one of the seven books that she bought. The words would swim after only one sentence and swirl into forms of fantasies she knew where most forbidden. It had been seven days since her lips had met with Draco's and the sweet taste of his kiss still lingered there. He tasted expensive, like some fine wine that you only got a chance to taste on vacation in some foreign land, and she had been craving it since. He was like some expensive addiction that she just couldn't afford. She had never desired before, and now it seemed that she had just never found anything worth the obsession. But why Draco Malfoy? He was a total git the entire time they were at school and she had never even liked him, save for the moments that he had shown his true side during their brief encounter, let alone needed him. She wouldn't, no _couldn't_, face him again and had spent day after day sneaking down to the kitchen only when she was sure that he wasn't there.

Hermione jumped as the door to the room was roughly flung open and slammed shut, knocking over the vase that stood next to it's frame. No words were spoken as Hermione's book was ripped from her hand and thrown roughly onto the floor. Hermione said nothing as the sounds of flesh hitting flesh rang throughout the room. Even as her eyes began to water, she made no noise. She wouldn't give him that pleasure anymore. The years had passed by in the same manner, for reason after reason, and sometimes for none at all, but she had long ago decided it was just best to let him finish. Every now and again between the slapping noise she was picking up mumbled phrases. Something about how she wouldn't believe him about Draco had brought on this onslaught and when he realized he was not going to get any response he picked up the vase near the door and threw it towards Hermione's head who simply tilted it and let it shatter against the wall.

"When you're quite finished, I do have other things to get to today." Hermione said as she wiped the trickle of blood from her lips. Her eyes became wide as Ron took a hold of her arm just below the elbow and placed another on her wrist.

"Have you got to go be with your lover?" He asked gripping her arm tighter and twisting slightly.

"Is there any answer that I could give you that would make you stop?" Hermione asked as she looked up over the top of her eyes, fear beginning to show as she felt the muscles in her shoulder spasm.

Downstairs in the kitchen, Draco spilled his butterbeer across the table as he heard the bloodcurdling scream that had dripped down the stairs and nearly knocked him off his chair. It took less than a second for him to pull his wand out of his pocket and begin his race up the stairs, jumping them three at a time.

The scream had come from the bedroom that the Weasley's shared together and as he opened the door, he was taken back by the ghastly scene in front of him. Hermione cowered in the corner, nursing an obviously dislocated shoulder as Ron stood over her, his arm posed in a threatening pose. Pages and porcelain scattered around the room. Draco shook his head as he had delayed long enough. "Crucio!"

Ron's body writhed on the ground as Draco held contact with it, all of the hatred he had ever felt for Ron streaming from the end of his wand. Foam and blood began to leak out of Ron's mouth as Draco continued to point the wand at his chest.

Hermione watched in horror as her husband screamed in agony, being tortured by her would-be rescuer. Part of her wanted Ron to suffer for everything she had been through in the past six years of marriage, but the other half, the real Hermione, knew that she couldn't let that happen. Somewhere inside the angry, hateful person he had become, was the real Ron, the boy she had spent her childhood with in friendship and later love.

"Draco, stop!" Hermione screamed through her tears. "You can't do this to him. It's an Unforgivable!" Draco pulled his wand slowly to his side and looked back over his shoulders at the cowering form of the woman he knew to be so strong.

"What he's done to you, _that's_ unforgivable. He doesn't deserve as good as this." Draco pulled his wand and turned to help her up from the corner.

"You'll..." Hermione couldn't bring herself to take his hand. "They'll have you in Azkaban for this." She was taken back when he didn't even flinch at the dreaded word.

"No. Not for this. If I'm going to go to Azkaban it will be for what I really want to do." Draco turned back towards Ron's seizing form. "Avada..."

"Draco! No!" Hermione jumped in front of Ron, shielding him from Draco's punishment. "It doesn't have to be this way." Hermione wiped the blood from Ron's lip and tried to stop his shaking by placing a hand on his chest. "There has to be another way. Maybe no one saw. No one has to know." Hermione's rantings were interrupted by a tapping on the window.

Draco crossed to the window and took the letter from the sleek black owl that presented it's leg to him.

"_Dear Mr. Malfoy,_

_It has come to our attention that on the night of September 10th at 22:16 at Number 12 Grimmauld Place, an unforgivable curse was performed. Because of your father's great contributions to the Ministry, besides the fact he turned out to be a complete cock-sucker,"_ Draco adlibed_, "a trial will be expedited for tomorrow afternoon so as not to prolong your worry. Sincerely, some high horse bitch_." Draco tried to hand the letter to Hermione. "I think they might know."

Both of them jumped as they heard the front door slowly creak open. Hermione crossed the room and cracked open the door just in time to see a mop of black hair, obviously as interested in not being noticed, cross by and enter his own bedroom, closing the door softly. Hermione turned and drew a lightning bolt on her forehead. Draco nodded in understanding as he placed his fingers in the shape of an "L" on his own.

"We have to get you out of here." Hermione whispered as she took his hand and looked both ways before heading out of the room. "We'll hide you somewhere."

"Hide me? From the Ministry?" Draco said as he willingly played her game. "They're like fucking Santa Claus and Jesus rolled into one. They see you when you're sleeping and shit like that."

Hermione snapped her head around and Draco saw the tears beginning to form. "I just found you again. I'm not going to lose you now." Draco stopped dead in his tracks. She cared about him. He wished now he had a little more restraint. His mouth suddenly dried up of words at the soft feel of her hands and he wanted to believe the hope he saw in those beautiful eyes. He found himself leading the way into his basement room, locking the door behind him.

Draco sat Hermione softly on his bed, kneeling in front of her as she cradled her injured arm. He flicked his wand and the tip began to glow with a soft green. As he touched it to her shoulder, she felt the pain dull and the muscles and bone repair. "I would never hurt you like this. I may have been a bastard in the past, but you've shown me I can be someone else. You saved me, Hermione. I'm only happy to have repaid my debt."

Hermione began to stroke the side of his face. It was so hard, so chiseled, and she saw it soften even as she touched it. Draco looked up into her longing eyes and for the first time in her life, Hermione saw the crystal eyes of the Ice Prince begin to melt.

**AN: I know this may seem really sudden, but just think back on it. Ron obviously has been having problems with his anger for awhile (case in point Harry's head to the kitchen floor) and Hermione has seemed unwilling to stand up to him. I hope that the subtlety wasn't lost, since I've never seen Hermione as one that would push her problems onto someone else, no matter how bad they were, but I also hope this didn't seem to come out of nowhere. Just reread the chapter where Ron attacks Harry and look for Hermione's reaction, or lack there of, to see if you see it now that you know that their problems are there more serious than first thought. **

**----------------------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 27 Teaser**

"Draco..." Hermione began but Draco sat up and silenced her with his fingers.

"Please," Draco began in a whispered plea, "Don't say 'no'. This is right. I feel it. I think you feel it too." He pulled her hand up and began kissing them again until he came to her wedding band. Slowly he placed his lips over it and, dragging it up with his teeth, pulled it off into his mouth and spit it roughly onto the floor. "He's already broken his promise, don't think you're wrong by breaking yours."


	27. Vindicated

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN VINDICATED

**AN: This chapter contains sexual content, and I suppose what some people may see as cheating. You have been warned.**

**I know that this song is WAY over used for Draco but it's so perfect for this chapter that I had to include it...**

So clear  
Like the diamond in your ring  
Cut to mirror your intentions  
Over sized and overwhelmed  
The shine of which has caught my eye  
And rendered me so isolated, so motivated  
I am certain now that

I am Vindicated  
I am selfish  
I am wrong  
I am right  
I swear I'm right  
I swear I knew it all along

And I am flawed  
But I am cleaning up so well  
I am seeing in me now the things you swore you saw yourself

Dashboard confessional-Vindicated

Hermione felt hours had past as she stroked Draco's hair as he lay in her lap. Nothing had ever felt so right, even though her mind kept telling her it was wrong. At this moment, nothing else mattered besides the silky feeling of his hair, the quiet sounds of his breathing and the dampness growing on her knees from his tears. She placed her fingers against his lips and felt the spark up her spine as he began to kiss them.

"Draco..." Hermione began but Draco sat up and silenced her with his fingers.

"Please," Draco began in a whispered plea, "don't say 'no'. This is right. I feel it. I think you feel it too." He pulled her hand up and began kissing them again until he came to her wedding band. Slowly he placed his lips over it and, dragging it up with his teeth, pulled it off into his mouth and spit it roughly onto the floor. "He's already broken his promise, don't think you're wrong by breaking yours."

Hermione narrowed her eyes in thought, wondering if he couldn't read minds as for the first time her mind had wandered up the stairs to where her husband lay. She made no effort to retreive the band she had worn for six years now and actually breathed easier as if Draco's action had actually freed her from her marital bonds.

Hermione sat forward to the edge of the bed and, taking in her first breath of freedom, was overwhelmed by the woodsy scent of the man she had for so long desired to touch. His scent and the feel of his lips on her fingers overwhelmed her sense of judgment as she leaned forward to drink of his lips. He tasted just as she remembered him and her mind began to beg to remember more about his body. She began to stroke his abdomen shortly before playing with the bottom of his shirt. Draco raised his hands to play with her hair as he continued to kiss her and to Hermione's pleasure, had accidental brushed the side of her breast. She shivered at his brief contact and knew that this is what she wanted.

She reached up and began removing the buttons on her shirt and was pleasantly surprised to find another set of hands had already begun.

"Are you OK with this?" Draco asked as he continued to slide her shirt off of her arms. His only reply was a deep kiss only momentarily interrupted as his shirt joined hers on the floor.

All clothes shed, Hermione lay back on the bed, pulling him towards her. He held himself inches above her just so he could take in her beauty.

"Draco...?" Hermione said, confused at his hesitance.

"I just want this moment to last forever." Draco said as he leaned forward and lightly kissed her forehead. Hermione began to cry at the realization that this may be the last few hours she would see those blue eyes. "Don't cry." He said as he wiped her tears away, leaving his own to fall. "I want to know you're happy."

Hermione smiled as she moved her hands over his back until she reached his hips where she began pushing him slowly closer to her. "Never been happier." she said as the tears began to form again. She gave a short laugh when she felt the tip of his head rest against her.

"What's so funny?" Draco said as he tried to pull back. She pushed against him to keep him next to her.

"No, it's not funny. I just feel so good right now. I've been waiting for this for so long." She winced slightly as he pushed past her outer lips.

"Are you alright?" He asked as he pulled back again.

"It's just been awhile." She smiled as she continued to put pressure on his hips. She needed to be closer to him, to feel him inside her, to have him fill her. She bit her lip as the pressure of him moved up her, filling her stomach. It had been so long since he had been there, and yet he fit so perfectly, as if she had been made to hold him. He laid his head on her shoulder as he began to rock and she felt his body shake as the emotions she knew she shared overwhelmed him.

^__^

Hermione lay content on Draco's chest and listened to his breathing slow. Night was beginning to fall and if not for the next days events, she would be joining him in dreams. She found herself memorizing all of the sights and scents of the room as she fingered his bare chest lovingly. He moaned pleasantly in his sleep and she knew he wasn't far gone. As she looked around she noticed a familiar scarf hanging out of a box bearing the colors of her former home. As she closed her eyes her thoughts strayed to school. Almost as soon as she had closed them, her eyes snapped open and she sat upright, pulling the sheets around her naked form.

"I've got it." She said, nearly bounding on the bed. Draco sat up and began to kiss the nape of her neck as he tried to move the sheet off of her.

"What's that, love?" he said, only partially listening.

"I know how I'm going to save you." She turned and kissed him as she stood up, taking the blankets with her and leaving him exposed on the bed. "Get your knickers on, it's cold in here." She said before ducking the pillow that was playfully flung at her. "Follow me upstairs. I'm not gonna let you get away again."

^__^

Hermione, wearing the bed linens as a manufactured robe, led the way upstairs to the room she had shared with her spouse. She cracked the door slightly to make sure he still lay where they last had left him. She motioned for Draco to follow her into the room where she instantly began searching the floor through the remnants of her books. She only stopped briefly when she heard the sound of paper ignite behind her.

"Ginny will have a conniption if she finds you smoking in her house." Hermione said without even a backwards glance. She did look, however, when the smell of nicotine became overpowered by burning flesh. Draco had knelt besides Ron's unconscious body and put his cigarette out on Ron's forehead. She rolled her eyes as she removed the burn from his skin.

"So what, exactly, is going to change the Ministry's mind?" Draco asked as he picked up his hardly used smoke and replaced it in the pack.

"Not _their_ minds..." Hermione said as her search came to an end with three pages she now held tightly to her chest. "His." She nodded towards Ron.

"Are you serious?"

"Uh hum. I remembered why we were here and what we had once done to keep another couple together, and I think I know what I did wrong last time."

Hermione crossed the room and kissed Draco before she knelt down next to Ron. Draco got up and went to the corner, relighting his cigarette at the stress of the deed to be done.

Hermione placed one hand on Ron's head and the other still clasping her pages on his chest. "I've missed you, Ron, but I can't do this anymore." She softly kissed his forehead. "I'll make sure you're taken care of."

As Draco watched, Hermione began to glow with a bright silver aura that circled her head and ran down her fingers into Ron's head.

"OK. I think I've done it." Hermione said as she crossed to the corner where Draco had sat on the floor. "God I hope I did it right." Draco noticed that she had started crying.

"So he ends up like Potter? You're not afraid of losing him, are you?"

"Not him..." Hermione said as she began to glow again. "If they question you, you won't be able to lie." Draco began to protest but she grabbed his head and the moment was lost. "Please don't forget me." Hermione said as she planted a new memory in Draco's mind.

For a few moments, the night seemed to reverse itself as Draco watched himself make love to Hermione before returning her upstairs where Ron's unconscious body regenerated to keep her hostage in the corner once again. Draco left her with him behind the closed door only momentarily before entering again to find her under his merciless control.

"Ron, leave her alone!" Draco shouted, this time drawing an attack on himself. As he struggled t keep all of Ron's attacks at bay, he saw the tip of Ron's wand glow a sickening green. "Avada..." Ron began.

Draco knew his only chance at survival and therefore the survival of Hermione was to stop Ron from finishing his curse.

"Crucio." Draco shouted knocking Ron back into his convulsions.

Draco shook his head as the past and present collided and he found himself lying in his dark room with Hermione laying naked against his chest. He scanned his mind for an answer to his missing pants but could find none. Hermione rolled over when she realized he was awake and placed a comforting hand on his cheek.

"I bet you don't remember this evening, but it's better that way. There will be plenty of time for us to remember the rest without all the worry. I'll have to 'forget' it soon as well but I just wanted to tell you, I love you." She kissed his very confused face. "and it was incredible." She began to passionately kiss him and even though he didn't know where this had come from or where it would end, he knew it was right.

**----------------------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 28 Teaser**

"What...is the meaning...of this?" Ginny flung the portrait down on the floor as she tried to catch her breath. Staring back at Harry from the floor was an unfinished mirror image of himself. "I've never seen a painting like this. Why isn't it finished? Why isn't it moving? Why is it...you?" Ginny wiped her soaking wet hair out of her eyes.

"I don't know." Harry said as he grabbed her hands. "But I think I know who does." He began to lead her down the stairs.


	28. The End Of The Line

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT THE END OF THE LINE

**AN: More violence....or at least the other half of it. Some sexual references.**

**Thanks to my new friends at The Motley Collection community for adding Skin Deep. Also I wanted to thank all those that have favorited it so far to make sure that no one gets left out. It really means a lot to me and I hope that this has lived up to your expectations. **

**AlinaLotus (great author, best wife)**

**eaglesnest**

**Happyhan**

**mamawitke**

**Man of the future**

**purposelyaccidental**

**and the several people who are watching on alerts**

**I also just wanted to let you know that I do visit the home pages and read the stories that people who take the time to favorite mine write. I want to know my readers better and I'd be glad to check yours out just let me know you are out there. Thanks for your support of my baby and stay tuned for the sequel, and soon to be third part, of this story. **

The door to the front of the house flung open and Ginny came sliding across the entry way tile, the portrait still clinging to her chest. The rain flooded in from the growing storm outside the forgotten door. As her pounding footsteps echoed off the stairs, two heads popped out from behind the basement door.

"Was that Ginny?" Hermione asked as she slipped over the puddles and her sheet robe. She closed the door and locked it tightly before returning to Draco who was also wrapped only in a sheet.

"Most likely wasn't the cat." Draco smirked as he playfully slapped Hermione's butt. "Either case, I think we're about to lose our privacy." Hermione yanked the sheet off from around Draco's waist.

"You're right." She giggled as she ran back down the stairs closely followed by Draco.

The door to Ginny's room flung open to find Harry staring out the window in deep thought. He turned and his eyebrows lowered in concern at her soaking, heaving form.

"Ginny...?" Harry said as he started to walk towards her. She held up her hand, not to stop him, but to tell him to give her a moment.

"What...is the meaning...of this?" Ginny flung the portrait down on the floor as she tried to catch her breath. Staring back at Harry from the floor was an unfinished mirror image of himself. "I've never seen a painting like this- Why isn't it finished? Why isn't it moving? Why is it...you?" Ginny wiped her soaking wet hair out of her eyes.

"I don't know." Harry said as he grabbed her hands, "but I think I know who does." He began to lead her down the stairs.

Hermione sat, straddling Draco's hips, still throbbing with the quick orgasm he had just brought her to. "Draco, you know I've been married three years and I've never had sex three times in one day? Let alone orgasmed more than once a month." Hermione stroked the trail of hair leading down his stomach.

"Well that doesn't really surprise me." Draco said as he shifted slightly on the bed. She felt herself ignite again at his sudden movement inside her.

_God..._ she thought, _he's turning me into a nympho_. She began kissing him as she tried to move herself around on him without being obvious.

"You ready for another go?" Draco smiled as she blushed. Just as he joined in her thrusting a rap came to the door.

"This had better be good." Draco said as Hermione smacked his shoulder and gave him a look.

"Draco, I need to talk to you about something important. Now." It almost sounded like Harry had returned upstairs before he added to his demands. "Hermione, we'll be needing you as well." Draco and Hermione looked at each other wide eyed before gathering their clothes in silence and joining Harry and Ginny in the kitchen.

"So how was work?" Draco asked Ginny in a smart-ass tone as they joined them at the table.

"First things first." Hermione said as she nervously scooted farther down the table from Draco. "I was...that is, we were...just..."

Harry held up his hand. "It's OK, 'Mione. We know."

"You know what?" Hermione said as Draco toyingly closed the gap between them again.

"I heard them come from the Ministry and pick up Ron. He seemed very eager to go. To take the blame. They're, um..." Harry looked at Draco before finishing, "not coming back."

"I am so sorry that we hadn't noticed that there was a problem." Ginny said as she sat down next to her lifelong friend.

"But how did you know I was downstairs?" Hermione looked down at the floor shamefully.

"Let's just say Harry heard a lot this morning." Harry, Hermione, and Ginny turned deep scarlet at this revelation.

"Awkward moment aside..." Draco said becoming antsy at the growing need in his pants.

"So anyway..." Harry began, "I've been to Snape's, and I have questions that need answered."

Ginny slammed the portrait onto the table like a centerpiece. "Let's start with this one."

Hermione turned her head to hide the oncoming tears. She knew this moment would come.

"You're the art expert, Gin. How would I know?" Draco began before a soft, shivering voice interrupted him.

"How much did you see, Harry?" Hermione forced herself to look up at her friend and instantly saw the pain of his knowledge.

Ginny looked back and forth between the two as they shared their knowing look and was suddenly overcome by cold. She found herself wishing she had never asked.

"Snape showed me...everything..." Harry began as Ginny settled in to his shoulder. "But it didn't make sense. How can I be..." Harry took one last look at Ginny as if he could no longer protect her. He nodded towards the painting knowing Hermione would get his drift.

"I'm afraid it makes perfect sense." Hermione said as she turned her head towards Draco. Draco had begun to roll up his sleeves as if preparing for some dirty job.

Ginny's knees had given way to what she believed to be a bad situation. She placed her hand over Harry's as it rested on her shoulder. "Harry, you didn't...you can't have..." she clasped his hand as she wasn't sure what to do with this new information. "When? And why don't we remember?"

"And why am I still here?" Harry said as both of them looked towards Draco as he stood and rounded the table to sit on the edge next to them. "I thought I would come to you because I saw both of you there before..."

"Where?" Ginny said, frustrated at being the last man out.

Harry gave a tight squeeze to her shoulder. "It was the night Voldemort was defeated. Snape helped me remember what happened." He ran a comforting hand down the side of her cheek before looking at Hermione and Draco in turn. They both nodded as they understood that some things she didn't need to know. "The last thing I knew, I had been hit with Avada Kedavra, killing Voldemort but knocking me onto a rock." He ran her finger over his scar. "Then everything went black." Ginny looked over the scar that until now she had never questioned it's origin. "But before everything went black, I saw you." Harry turned to Draco who looked like he was just waiting for the story to come to him.

"Some things just don't stay dead," he said as he closed his eyes and put up his hands as if he were about to start bowing. Very slowly, a silver stream began flowing from his temples and running off his fingertips. As the droplets turned into a stream they formed an orb just above where they should have splattered on the ground. The orb continued to grow until it nearly touched everyone around the table. Harry took a deep breath as for the second time that day he was plunged into someone else's memory. As the flames of the ruined building grew in intensity, he thought he heard Hermione's soft voice whisper "I'm sorry."

^__^

Harry had spent the better half of his day in this god forsaken place but he did not recognize the room they were looking down on. He felt Ginny's hands frantically search for his in the dim light of the room as this was a new and frightening experience to her. Draco nodded his blond head over the edge of the cliff towards the two raised voices that Harry now recognized.

"This is where I get involved." Draco said as Hermione placed a hand on his shoulder which made him, as well as the two watching, slightly uncomfortable. Hermione placed her hand back into the other not wanting to make an awkward situation even worse.

Draco sat crumpled on the floor shaking with fury, his white locks tainted with the wounds of the ensuing battle.

"You're a fool, boy. You always have been. This is what attachments get you. Pain..." Draco screamed under his fathers curse, "anger, " he stopped long enough to revel in his sons glare, "and premature death. You could have been great. Your mother was weak. She followed the path of the weak. Allowing yourself to mourn for her shows your soul to truly be "Black."

He stepped forward and marveled in the sight of his child who shuddered at the mere thought of the pain his father could bring him. Or had he imagined it? His own stone eyes stared back at him and he was filled with a feeling he had only ever felt in the presence of the Dark Lord. He shook it off as he extended his hand.

"You have many lessons left to learn, boy. I will not rob you of the opportunity to redeem yourself as a Malfoy." Draco spat angrily into the offered palm.

"I think I've finally learned at least one lesson." Draco said, the conviction burning in his eyes. "When you no longer haunt my every waking moment, I'll only remain a Malfoy by name." Draco's strike was fast. So much in fact that Harry found himself wondering why Lucius was now lying bleeding on the floor. Draco stood over him, wand poised squarely on his jaw before using his other fist to punch his fathers face. Harry head a loud snap as the bone broke loose of its joint. Several firm blows later and Draco seemed to be tiring out. He pulled his wand and took one last deep breath before screaming "Crucio!" and filled the room with a bright glow. Lucius screamed in agony for what seemed like an eternity before falling unconscious. Draco continued his hold on his father's convulsing body. Future Draco finally looked around as if just remembering that he was being watched.

"We might as well go upstairs," he said. "This goes on for a bit." He took one last glance over his shoulder as they made their way up to the opening of the caves where they sat and waited to be met to continue the story. Harry wasn't sure how long they waited before they finally heard footsteps pounding up the stone steps.

Draco turned yet another corner of the tunnels, knowing one of them had to lead out of this cave. From deep inside he had heard the explosion and he was sure it had come from the chamber he had last seen Potter and Weasley in. Draco wiped the blood tinged sweat from his worried brow as he felt the cold night air slap against his face. It was over.

"Malfoy?" A startled Hermoine asked as she rounded the corner, trying to enter the very place Draco so desperatly longed to never see again.

"Move, Granger." Draco said noticing for the first time that she was holding herself up on the wall, barely able to stand, and she still looked like she would kill him if he didn't let her in. "This place is going to collapse." He said, more out of fact than an actual warning.

"I still have friends down there." Hermione said as she pushed him easily to the side.

"If everything went according to plan, there won't be anything to collect. But when have 'his' plans ever gone accordingly?" Draco stepped to the side, willing to let her go but showing no interest in going with her.

Future Draco recognized the disdain in his eyes as he watched Hermione walk down the crumbling stairs. He couldn't imagine that he had once or ever would again feel anything but hatred towards the group he now stood with. They watched as Hermoine stumbled on the stairs only just catching her balance before continuing on. Draco had turned and tasted the crisp night before, for reasons still unknown, he turned and followed Hermione back into the dungeon.

As they proceeded down the stairs the heat from the rising flames became nearly unbarable and through the smoke Ginnys hair blended well with the embers surrounding her.

"What the hell are you two doing down here?" Draco heard Hermione cough on the smoke behind him. "Can't you see this fucking place is on fire?" He stopped cold at the bottom of the stairs as Ginny stood naked as the day she was born, a look of redemption on her face. As he looked down he saw the shredded remains of Potters shirt and realized he must have walked into some sort of victory celebration. _She didn't used to be into that sort of thing_. Draco thought as he took in her matured form.

"Not the time, Malfoy. Harry's hurt. I need help to carry him." Future Hermione hid her eyes from the gruesome scene she knew she was just seeing. She looked over and saw that Ginny had gone paper white as she clung to Harry as if he might disappear.

"Just leave him, Ginny! He's as good as dead, that doesn't mean we have to be." Draco grabbed her and received several hits to the face. When she got loose he received one more fierce slap. Future Draco was surprised as the memory became reality as Ginny reached across and punched his jaw.

"Just in case you forgot." Ginny said as she turned back into Harry. The painting began to make sense and she wished she had left it buried in the Minestery basement.

"I'll...never leave...I love you." Ginny heard his words and felt the tears flow as they had once before at his good-bye.

"I love you too, Harry. I won't leave you down here. I promise." Hermione began to sob as she saw the last kiss of her friends love and dropped to her knees as she realized he was no longer moving. She jumped as Ginny screamed as she pounded Harry's still chest.

"No. Don't do this to me Harry. Don't leave me." Draco stepped over to Ginny, confused by the conflict going on in his mind. He had never cared before what happened to other people but he just couldn't walk up those stairs.

The ominous sounds of the crackling fire covered the protesting screams as Draco physically removed Ginny from Harry's corpse, his glossy eyes watching the fight she was putting up. Only one task mattered to Draco. He had to get her outside. Ginny reached across Draco's back and pulled his wand from his pocket.

"Stupefy!" Ginny screamed, slamming Draco in the chest and knocking him back into Hermione. Hermione gasped as she pulled out her own wand and Draco closed his eyes at the glow that shot past his ear catching mid plummet a large piece of stone dropping off the crumbling ceiling nearly landing on Ginny's head. She threw it hastily to the side knocking a hole into the already weakening wall.

"Fuck this." Draco said as he reached for his wand, forgetting it to be missing. " A little help?" He said to Hermione as he lunged forward toward Harry. "Just give him to me. We're leaving." Ginny seemed to have lost all sane thoughts as she still protested letting go. Draco nodded towards Hermione who raised her wand. "Incarcerous!"

Draco lifted Harry onto his shoulder as he bolted up the stairs followed closely by Hermione dragging a bound Ginny out of the collapsing cave. Draco removed his robes and, more out of gentilness than actual modesty, placed them gently over Ginnys trembling shoulders. Hermione held her wand up defensively as she twisted from side to side.

"We can't possibly be safe out in the open like this," she said more to herself than the others. "We can't have killed them all, and they'll know he's gone by now, maybe even come looking." Hermione noticed a ginger head begin to stir from down the field. Hermione's face toughened in determination and waved her wand towards Ron. With a small pop he vanished from the battle ground seconds before Hermione turned and met Draco's eyes as they scanned for the best escape route. He saw in the flash of light from her wand that he was unwillingly bound to them.

----------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 29 Teaser

"I didn't come here to bury him, " Hermione said as she marched the body through what remained of the front doors. "Get Professor Snape and meet me in his study. I do not intend this to be his end."


	29. You For Me

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE YOU FOR ME....

**AN: This chapter contains some scenes of fslash sexual content and implied minor character death.**

Draco slammed hard into the dampened grass. He had never attempted side along apparition with a body and he felt himself over, relieved he was all there. He looked just past where Hermione knelt, comforting a shivering Ginny to the massive ruins that still resembled a once comforting sight. The once magnificent building no longer looked like it would stand up to anything stronger than a good breeze.

"You know, Granger, we'd be much safer at Malfoy Manor." Draco said as he shifted Harry's weight.

"Until the remaining Death Eaters and your lovely parents find us." Hermione scolded, easing Ginny to her feet. "I'll risk the building coming down on my head before handing myself to them." Draco opened his mouth to correct her fears but found it to be no ones business to know what remained of the Malfoy line. "Besides," she looked over her shoulder at Harrys remains , "he belongs here. " Ginny started sobbing uncontrollably and Hermione had to coax her back off the ground.

"If you think I'm giving a eulogy for him..." Draco began before being silenced by Ginny's daggers and her wand. He fell over with the force of her Stunning spell.

"Finish that sentence," Ginny said, tearless for the first time in over an hour. "Finish that sentence," she demanded as she shook with fury. "He did not die for you, you ungrateful...selfish..."

"Besides, I need supplies." Hermione placed a calming hand on Ginny's shoulder. "And I only need one thing from you and then you can go slink off with your 'family'." She looked at Draco as if realizing for the first time what he was doing. "That is, if you're still willing to help me."

"I...uh..." for a split second Draco's face dropped and future Hermione caught the despair she had not seen before. His cool demeanor had returned. "I don't have anything else going on for the moment. Besides, you ladies look like you need help." He lifted Harry off the ground before realizing he was lighter than before. Hermione glared as she levitated the lifeless form off Draco's back.

"I need you to do something I cannot do for myself. I need you to go find Professor Snape."

"Even though I'm sure he'd be thrilled to dig Potters grave," Draco looked defiantly at Ginny as her wand rose again, "it's not something we can't handle..."

"I didn't come here to bury him." Hermione said as she marched the body through what remained of the front doors. "Get Professor Snape and meet me in his study. I do not intend this to be his end."

^___^

An hour later Draco sat in the corner of his godfather's study, already bored with the lecture Granger was receiving.

"But the curse isn't what killed him, it was a fluke, an accident!" Hermione stuttered as she rarely contradicted a professor.

"Cause of death is irrelevant, Ms. Granger. You know as well as anyone it is not only forbidden, but impossible."

"And you know as well as I do that's a lie!" Hermione startled herself. "It's not impossible," she said much quieter.

"Harry Potter no longer exists." The words reverberated through the stone room. "He's moved on. He's with James and Lily and probably happy for the first time in his short life. He has been welcomed by all those who passed before him. If he wanted to be here he would have chosen to remain a spirit, and I for one do not see him. He has moved on, and so should you." Snape directed this last at Ginny as she silently cried in the corner.

Snape's cloak had barley graced the door when Hermione took off up the stairs behind the dungeon portrait leading to the library. "Must still be something...never impossible..." Draco heard her voice echo until the portrait shut behind her. He watched uncomfortably as Ginny caressed Harry's head, running her fingers through his hair and whispered lovingly into his ear. Was it the need to absorb such love that kept him routed to his seat? Those fingers had once touched him that way, but if he just had let her would he have felt that kind of love? She had always been Harry's, even when she didn't know it, but she had felt something for him at one time and something inside him would suddenly do anything to stop her from hurting.

By the time Hermione had returned, exasperated and empty handed from the library, Draco had already Apparated out and back from the unprotected castle.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing." Hermione said as she sat heavily on the vacant chair behind the desk and began rummaging through the drawers.

"In Hogwarts? Not surprising." Draco held up the fruits of his travels. "From the Malfoy private library." He handed Hermione a leathery book that made her gag when she read the name on the cover.

"This...the real...oh my God!" Hermione dropped the book in disgust.

"Necronomicon Exmortus." Draco said as he sat back down in his corner. "bound in flesh and written in blood. 'The devil's spell book', 'The book of the dead,' Did you really think you'd find what you wanted in the standard book of spells?"

"I can't...we can't..."

"What's this 'we' shit? What you want is on page 74. I'm just here to make sure you don't damn your immortal soul in the process." Ginny raised her eyebrows at the demon book as if it might explode at any second.

"You grew up with that thing in your house?"

"Chewed on the corners when I was teething. My father saw it as a taste for the Dark Arts. Moved it into my bedroom hoping to inspire me."

"Yes and your life's been just blessed, hasn't it?" Hermione scoffed. "I'm not touching it. It's cursed."

"Did you think this would be easy? You're talking about damning a soul back to earth and trapping it back in its body. Only one other person succeeded in returning a soul to a body and it wasn't Dumbledore," he paused. "You won't use it?" He shrugged at her timid no. "Fine. I'm sure I have something else. Be back." With a soft pop both book and owner disappeared and the air became suddenly breathable.

"He fucking chewed on it?!" Ginny screamed as both girls made mental notes to rip their tongues out later. "I wouldn't be surprised if his first teething ring was his dads..." Pop. The awkward moment hung thick in the air as Draco reappeared holding a dirty diary and several loose scrolls. Future Draco looked over at Ginny, a slight smirk under his raised eyebrows. She blushed to six shades of maroon before hiding in Harrys' chest, pretending she heard the chuckle he was surely wishing he could give.

"What is this?" Hermione asked without touching the offered works.

"Your only other chance," Draco said before roughly opening to a hurriedly scrawled page. "You'll have to make it up as you go. He wanted a body, and we already have a stiff."

"This belongs to Vo-Voldemort?" Hermione gasped in the same disgust as before.

"Pick the lesser of two evils." Draco said as if this was some sort of game.

"Bone...Blood...Flesh." Hermione read like some morbid shopping list. "But he needed a body." She said to herself.

"I know, I said that." Draco said before being shushed.

Hermione thought for several seconds as if trying to think up an opening line for an essay before searching for a cauldron.

"What makes up a soul?" Hermoine asked the room at large.

"Love." Ginny offered immediately as she stroked Harry's still chest.

"Lust." Draco added, hungrily eyeing Ginnys fingers. Hermione thought for several minutes before nodding in agreement.

"It is one of the basic instincts," she said as if trying to convince herself. "Eating, breathing, drinking and...um...relations." Hermione said blushing slightly.

"Single-celled organisms know that, and although Harry's only slightly above them, I don't think basic instincts make souls. I would say love, lust, sacrifice, and hate. Things you learn to give, not are forced to." Draco raised his eyebrows at the task growing in front of them.

Hermoine lit the cauldron and glared into the popping flames. "We better be right," she whispered as she poured a few noxious potions into the cauldron.

"It's not like you could mess him up worse than he already was." Draco jumped at the explosion that sounded through the room.

"That was supposed to happen." Hermione said as she referenced the scrolls. "Well, I suppose we just need something to represent the four elements we decided on to add to the cauldron."

"No one better than a Malfoy to represent hate," Draco said stepping up to the simmering liquid. He pulled back his sleeves revealing to only the future onlookers and himself the dried blood splattering his arm. "Since day one hatred for Potter has flowed through these veins." Draco picked up the athame sitting on the desk and cut a one inch slit across his upper arm. The new blood joined and removed his fathers as it ran down his arm. Draco watched, the only one knowing the extreme hatred dropping into the potion.

"It wasn't hatred for Harry, was it?" future Hermione whispered, not expecting or receiving an answer.

Draco bled until he felt sure the only blood remaining was his own. The concoction glowed with a fiery fury as he tourniquets his wound. "Your turn." Draco sad to no one in particular, spatting fiercely into the pot.

"OK. Now for lust." Hermione nodded her head defiantly before stepping up to Ginny and grabbing a firm handful of Ginny's hair and pulling it back. She licked her lips hungrily before biting firmly down on Ginny's. When Ginny protested, Hermione yanked her head firmly back. "Trust me," she whispered in Ginny's ear before glancing over to make sure they had an attentive audience. "Make him jealous," she said and felt Ginny had caught on when her breast was fiercely fondled.

"Oh God, Gin. I want you," Hermione whispered seductively and no one could believe what they were seeing. Hermione pulled Ginny back towards the desk, but hesitated momentarily. It was long enough to lose her control. Ginny slammed her hard into the desk and began to undo the button on her jeans. As if with practice, her fingers found their way to Hermione's mound and expertly massaged the throbbing tissue. As Hermione allowed herself to be pleasured she made sure to voice her enjoyment. Hermione reached down as she orgasmed and pushed Ginny deep into her. As she finished, she pulled Ginny out and smiled at her glistening arousal. She beckoned Ginny to add it to the mix as she grinned at Draco.

"Yours too." Hermione buttoned her jeans. "Without yours it's only pleasure." Draco looked at Hermione confused until a strange sensation over came him as Hermione summoned something from inside his pants.

"What the fuck?" Draco started as he hadn't even realized he had shown he had been so excited.

"Lust." Hermione said as she flung it into the potion.

"Well, love ought to be easy enough for me..."Ginny began before Hermione interrupted.

"I don't think you're supposed to give that part, Ginny. Harry sacrificed his life for you. I think you should make a sacrifice for him." Hermione began shaking with her morbid thoughts.

"You mean, I have to die?" Ginny choked out, trying to look brave.

"That wouldn't make much sense, would it?" Hermione said, trying to ignore the look of relief on Ginny's face. "But would you be willing to give him a part of your soul?"

Draco stood in protest at what Hermione was suggesting, but Ginny quickly silenced him. "He's always had it, if not in the physical sense. What do I have to do?"

With help from Draco, Hermione spent the next half hour explaining Horcruxes to a horrified Ginny, using the diary she knew so well as an example.

"So I have to...kill...someone?" Ginny tried not to let tears overcome her again.

"Just go to the battlefield, the first person you come across that's nearly gone," Hermione was taking Ginny to the door as if she was going to change her mind. "Then do exactly as I told you and put it into..." Hermione looked around the room frantically, "this." She grabbed the remnants of Harry's glasses from off the table.

Ginny walked out slowly, clasping Harrys spectacles tightly in her shaking fist. As soon as she was gone, Hermione raced through the papers on the desk, obviously looking for something. Her search was halted by a very angry voice.

"You know that's not how it works, Hermione. You might have sent her to her death. She can't just 'help' someone on."

"It might be enough, especially if she believes it's enough. Do you suggest I have her murder? It will work. Then after it's done...I'll need your help one last time."

Draco tried to hide the smile as the last 'favor' he did, which he decided, would be forever burned into his memory, replayed in his head.

"I want to erase Ginny' memory of tonight. The whole night. She should never know what she's been through." She held up the scroll she had found on memory modification and placed it tenderly on top.

"And you need my help because...? Draco asked.

"I've never done this before." Hermione said as if ashamed she didn't know something.

"And I have?"

"Well I'm sure you've seen it...Oh my God." Hermione lept out of her chair and ran to capture Ginny as she stumbled through the doorway. She said nothing as she sat on the ground and held up the broken glasses. Hermione took them by the earpiece and dropped them completely into the cauldron. A white vapor began to form out of the smoke and changed between many forms, most of which were too unclear to make out.

"Those are your memories and feelings Gin." Hermione exclaimed as if in a lecture. "You're sharing them with Harry." She gave a weak smile as if that thought would wipe away the blood on Ginny' hands.

"Pe...Pe...Per..." Ginny continued to mutter as Hermione softly kissed her forehead.

"Just one last thing and it will be over with." Hermione said, trying to reassure everyone. "Then you'll be OK," she said to Ginny as if trying to reassure herself.

Hermione left Ginny to cry on the floor as she crossed to the cauldron. Future Hermione forced herself to glance over at Ginny as what she had worked so hard to hide flowed over its unwilling victims. Ginny was pale and clung to Harry who grasped her hand with white knuckles. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, but her pleads washed over deaf ears. The couple seemed to have forgotten they could move. Hermione turned back, hoping the worst was over.

"Any ideas?" Draco jeered as he watched Hermione stumble to the cauldron.

"For...?" she said only half listening as she fingered the chain hanging around her neck. They were both suddenly distracted as Ginny began to uncontrollably wail. With a new sense of urgency, eyes beginning to glisten in the lamplight, Hermione lifted the chain off of her neck.

"Harry gave me this," she responded as if Draco had asked about the heart shaped pendant in her hand. "Fifth year. We had never really dated, but he gave it to me as a 'thank-you' after..." Hermione began to blush. "Well we..."she smiled at the memory.

Draco looked as if he might vomit. "You didn't. That's disgusting." Hermione shot a look over her shoulder but it appeared Ginny wasn't listening. She nodded as the tears began to flow.

"He's always been a brother to me, but I've loved him since first year. I still do." She glanced over as Ginny curled into a ball on the floor. "I know this will work." She kissed the pendant before throwing it into the mix. The potion slowly took on a smell somewhere between parchment and broomsticks and glowed a deep pink.

"That should do it, " Hermione walked over and lifted Ginny off the floor and walked her to the cauldron. She showed them all the chant they needed to repeat. As the words reverberated off the walls Hermione noticed Ginny's tears had began flowing into the mist beginning to form over the cauldron. The mist began taking an uncertain human-like form as it moved over to the table where Harry's body lay. As it gathered it began to look more masculine, then more definite right down to the lightening bolt gash on it's forehead. Just as the mist began to look like a solid identical of the man it would become, it lowered itself onto its keeper and merged the two forms. Several seconds crept by as the only sound came from the crawling flames.

"Did it...is he..." Hermione had barely whispered the words before Ginny broke out in tears.

"It didn't even work? Oh my God. I killed...I murdered," her words were cut off by her sobs. She ran across the room and flung herself on top of Harry. "Damn it Potter! Percy, I'm sorry!" She screamed as she slammed a fist down on his chest. As her fist made contact, Hermione heard two large gasps. One was the Ginny who had just learned how her brother passed and the other was the first breaths of the new Harry that stood beside her. She turned and pleaded with her eyes that Draco return them home. There was a lot of things that made much more sense and she hoped she would be forgiven for what she had done.

As the kitchen came back into focus it seemed to have all been a very bad dream.

"I've been thinking," Hermione started through her tears, "we didn't give you enough, Harry. You were such a dynamic person with feelings and memories, years of ones so deep and so horrible we could never understand or recreate. And yet, fool that I was, I thought it would be simple. You still hate because Draco was so furious with his father. Ginny's sacrifice gave you the will to make her happy, a drive to repay her, even if you didn't know why. I, unknowingly, added pleasure to get Draco's lust which," she began to blush, "I'm sure you still feel. And Ginny's tears of despair and pain mixed with her Horcrux and cause you to still feel that. I thought our childish fling would have been enough but I have never seen anyone love you as deeply as Ginny." She smiled, not wanting to stop talking in case this was the last they would want to see of her. "Ginny, I..." no words came that meant enough to fix what she had made her go through. Even after getting Harry back she had suffered for six more years and didn't even know why.

Ginny stood and crossed to sit in front of Hermione, her face set in an unreadable gaze. Hermione instinctively threw her hands in front of her face as Ginny flung herself onto her. "Thank you." Hermione thought she had heard wrong until she realized Ginny was hugging her.

"Thank you for telling me, " Ginny said. "I know how hard it had to be for you," she looked down at her hands. "And thank you for keeping it secret for so long." She looked over at Harry. "At this point, I wanted to know. I was ready to know."

"I'm just sorry it went so wrong..." Hermione began.

"It didn't. I have Harry. But something still doesn't seem right. If I made a...if my soul was shattered, why don't I feel empty?" The wheel seemed to be spinning faster behind Ginny's drying eyes which now nearly matched her hair with the nights events.

"Maybe you didn't really make one? It was your first time." Hermione said as if it was an unfinished task she might want another go at.

"It had to, or, like you said, there wouldn't be sacrifice." Harry spoke for the first time in hours and Ginny looked back at him as if she had never seen him before. She stood and crossed to him, taking his face into her hands and stared him deeply in the eyes.

As if in slow motion, Ginny saw the life leaving Harry's eyes, felt the flames build around her, but knew she was safe inside her home. _He can't leave me again. I won't let him_. Her mind built with panic even though she knew nothing was happening to him.

"I won't leave you down here, I promise." Ginny heard herself utter the words and it startled her as much as Harry. She suddenly had an idea. A crazy, stab in the dark, wild thought but it still excited her.

"You promised me, down there, you would never leave me and I promised you I would not leave you down there right before..." Even though she knew he lived and breathed in front of her, she couldn't believe he had ever been anything else. "But before _that_..."

"You kissed me." Harry finished, trying to catch on to her train of thought.

"Harry," Ginny began bouncing on the balls of her feet in excitement. "Do you know what this means? I didn't leave you. I kept my promise! Your last breath, as your soul left your body, our lips were together. I took you in and kept you all these years, just like I said I would. I gave you a part of my soul but the part of you I'd taken has kept me together, made me whole." It was too out there to not be true and she began trying to formulate a plot to get him back together.

"So, what I think you're saying, is that all we have to do is find a way to swap you for me and me for you?" Harry seemed to be even more confused then he sounded.

"Well, while you all figure this humdinger out, there's a swap of 'you for me' that I'd like to be making right now." Draco frankly stated as he stood and stretched his arms over his head. He buckled as Hermione slugged him in the stomach, her eyes nearly coming out of thier sockets at his lewd remark.

Ginny looked thoughtfully at Harry as if the answer would just present itself, but as the night dragged on and her thoughts became blurry with exhaustion, she seemed to be asking herself to do the impossible.

**---------------------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 30 Teaser**

Only teaser that you get....

The wedding...

Will Ginny get him back? Will Draco get Hermione? Find out in the concluding installment.


	30. New Beginnings

CHAPTER THIRTY NEW BEGINNINGS

**AN: This chapter contains scenes of sexual conduct**

Ginny had spent the night alone, tossing and turning in excitement, and now she longed for that solitude. Several of her friends raced around her as her mind stood still for the first time in days. Hermione noticed her friends vacant stare and stood to hug her.

Everything she wanted to tell her seemed empty, like promises she could not keep and she was left twirling Ginnys hair in her hands.

"You look incredible." Hermione felt this was the only complete truth she knew. Draped in ivory satin, Ginny looked heavenly as her red curls framed her face. Hermione turned and picked up the silver tiara from the desk and took in a deep breath. "Are you ready?"

Ginny nodded slightly as she smiled. "I just wish I had...I wish he..." she closed her eyes and nodded. "I love him." She nearly giggled with excitement as Hermione placed the tiara on top of Ginny's curls. The two girls kept their hands clasped tight as the rest of the group came over to awe at the new bride.

^__^

Draco sifted the dark amber liquid he had been heavily downing since re-entering his old room. He had willingly offered the manors grounds and even made sure that the roses were in full bloom but he didn't stop to think that meant he would spend an entire day there. He looked around his black leather chair and listened to the voices filling the gardens behind the mahogany drapes. He could only place a few of the voices and had just decided to chart the rest up to Gryffindors before he caught the steel glare of his father. The entire family stared down on him from the portrait over his fireplace and Draco suddenly realized he needed to refill his glass. He stood to cross to the bar when Harry entered, fiddling with his cuff links like he'd never dressed himself in his life.

"They fold in the other way." Draco said, referring to Harrys sleeves as the rim of the decanter noisily found his glasses top.

"Um, thanks." Harry said as he tried to fix the sleeve. Draco noticed Harry reach into his pocket and finger something gently.

"You shouldn't spend so much time getting dressed when it's just gonna come off later anyway." Draco saw that his humor fell on deaf ears and walked across to cup Harry firmly on the shoulder. "You better take care of her, fuck face."

Harry nodded as he reached back into his pocket. "This better work." Harry muttered under his breath.

"It'll work." Draco agreed without caring what he agreed to. He held up his glass. "Now take a drink, zip up your damn fly, and lets go attach the old chain."

^___^

Harry stood under the archway draped with ivy and knocked his knuckles against the stone alter.

"Harry dear," Harry jumped at the sound of his mothers voice, "You're going to knock over the candles." Harry turned and nodded to each of the portraits forming a half circle around him. Lily patted the corners of her eyes with her handkerchief before offering it over to a bawling Molly. In the center, wearing his best robes sat Dumbledore flanked on one side with the Potters, Sirius and Lupin, and the Weaslys down the other. They had been removed from their prison for the first time in six years and promised they would not have to go back. In a massive circle around Harry sat all of the people he had spent his entire life with, including, to whispers and raised eyebrows, Dudley Dursley.

After finding out who he was, Draco sat down firmly next to the only person here who once shared hatred for the groom. Several silent seconds crept by as Dudley squirmed in his seat and Draco stared bored around the crowd, finally resting on Harry as he once again reached into his pocket. Draco shook his head before slouching into his chair.

"He's such a fuckin' twat." Draco and Dudley shared a chuckle before Draco, growing bored with Dudley began looking for Hermione.

He found her in his parents bedroom still fusing over Ginny's hair. Katie and Angelina, who were taking turns making sure the other was ready, jumped as the door opened.

"Draco, you're not supposed to be up here," Katie scolded.

"That's only for the groom and he left." Hermione shot him a frightened look while Ginny rolled her eyes. "Said he got tired of waiting, hopped the first bird and rode her out of here." He ducked as Hermione threw a shoe at him and Ginny took the chance to move away towards the door. Ginny began impatiently tapping her foot as Hermione rounded up her shoe.

Hermione began fussing over Draco's robes as she buckled her shoe. "Just want you to look your best," she smiled as she fought the urge to kiss him in mixed company. "My parents might be here," she threw in hastily as she gathered her hair up and pinned it. She ignored Draco's raised eyebrows as she turned to Ginny.

"Speaking of parents, Gin, who's going to give you away?"

^___^

A light breeze was the only noise as the circle opened to allow Harry and Ginny their first glances of each other. Harry found his breath stolen as Ginny smiled sweetly and looked towards the ground. Fred on one side and George on the other, Ginny walked slowly towards Harry.

"I'm proud to lend you my daughter, Harry." Arthur handed Molly a second tissue. "Welcome to the family, son." Fred and George stepped next to their family as Ginny joined Harry at the alter.

After a long, but enlightening, opening by Dumbledore, Arthur and James put strengthening and happiness charms on their wedding bands. Ginny looked radiant and Harry only looked away from her when someone said his name.

"Harry?" Ginny whispered and he realized all eyes were on him. It was time. His sweaty hands trembled as he reached into his pocket for the scribbled parchment he had been up all night with. He unfolded the paper, praying he'd know what to say and that she would hear what he meant.

"Ginny. I know I can't always show you how I feel about you, or that, along the way the message comes out wrong, or I don't say what I really mean..." Harry paused. This had to be perfect. Several seconds crept by in silence as he tried to get his thoughts together. "You are my life. You're the reason that I breathe. The monotony of every day is broken in your laugh and forgotten in your smile. My face and voice may try to hide it, but it's you my arms will always reach for. It may not be much, but I poured my soul into my vows in the hopes that it would fill your heart and when I kiss you today, and forever after, "you" and "I" will no longer exist. We will be one and for the first time in my life, I will be whole."

Anything left on the paper was forgotten as Ginny leapt onto Harry, pulling him into a deep kiss, speckled with her tears of joy. The crowd erupted in cheers as, before they'd been asked to, Harry and Ginny gave themselves to one another. As Ginny backed away, a new set of tears began to flow as for the first time in six years, Harry smiled. A simple act that meant the world to the woman his jade eyes sparkled at.

^___^

The festivities were well under way when Hermione finally broke away from the wedding party long enough to search for Draco. She couldn't believe the difference in the newlywed couple as they laughed with friends and cuddled with each other. They seemed terrified of losing each other in the crowd and with good reason. The guests seemed to be multiplying as they danced and drank and Hermione quickly gave up hope of finding anyone in the pulsing throng.

Draco sat at the bar slowly enjoying his fifth drink of the evening. Or was it eighth? Not knowing, or caring, he slammed down the rest and motioned the barkeep for another. A girl from school sat on each side and many others surrounded him, pathetically readjusting and giggling, vying for his attention, which they didn't seem to be getting. Pansy broke through the crowd, obviously holding her skirt up higher than necessary had straddled his extended knee before he even noticed her.

"Drakie..." she whined in that nasally voice he had always despised. "You haven't asked me to dance one time this whole evening. I thought for sure you'd find me for a little "school reunion" tonight," she giggled as if this was the funniest thing she had ever come up with.

He stared at her blankly for several seconds before he realized that the knee of his pants was becoming slightly damp. He slammed down his drink and then stood up without telling her, causing her to wobble foolishly on her heels. "Have you seen Hermione?"

"Granger?!" Pansy shrieked like a woman possessed. "That bitch is fucking _my_ man?" This last seemed to bring him back to his senses.

"Pansy, have I sent you one owl since leaving school? Any inclination that I wanted to see you or be with you?"

"But Drakie..." back to the whining, "we were Hogwarts hottest couple. I loved you and you loved me."

"Hi, I'm Earth, have we met?" Draco placed his hands firmly on her shoulders as if to drive the point home. "You were one of many casual fucks. A booty call, and easy. That's it. Now I'm going to ask you again before I go burn my pants; have...you seen...Hermione?"

Seeing she'd be no help he began walking away from her screams of "you bastard", "you owe me" and "I'll take you for everything you're worth". Reaching into his pocket he pulled out two knuts and threw them over his shoulder.

"Don't say I never gave you anything," he said still searching the crowd for a certain bushy head. Finally finding her standing next to the fountain with some guy he walked up quietly behind her and firmly grabbed her ass.

"Draco!" he heard Hermione squeal but it, horrifyingly, came from behind him. He closed his eyes and turned slowly around wishing the ground would swallow him up.

"Hermione," his voice sounded weak and distant. "I've been looking for you."

"I've been looking for you too." Hermione tried to suppress a chuckle. "I wanted you to meet my parents."

It was only at this awkward moment of realization that Draco noticed his hand was still somewhere it should have never been.

"Mum, dad, this is Draco Malfoy, the one I told you about." Hermione said as Mrs. Granger moved towards her husband, blushing slightly.

Draco's questioning glance was answered as Mr. Granger extended his hand in thanks.

"I'm glad I could thank you in person for protecting our daughter," he said still eyeing Draco suspiciously. "Malfoy, huh? Your fathers not a dentist is he? That name sounds familiar." Draco and Hermione shared a private chuckle at the thought of Lucius cleaning teeth.

"We really had no idea anything was wrong," Mrs. Granger added, taking her turn to awkwardly shake Draco's hand. "They had always seemed so happy. I'm just glad someone was there to get him the help he needs. Hermione's only just told us he was admitted to hospital for anger therapy. Hopefully he'll be well soon. I hate to think of Hermione being in their house all alone." Mrs. Granger began lovingly stroking her daughters hair.

"You're right." Draco stated looking deeply into Hermione's beautiful soft eyes. "She should never spend a single sleepless night alone."

Draco tried to eavesdrop after Mr. Granger had pulled him aside to discuss dental hygiene habits towards the conversation Mrs. Granger was having with her daughter about when she would be getting Ron back. Hermione, though not admitting her feelings of closure over him was trying again and again to steer the topic elsewhere. Draco, glad to have a scapegoat upon hearing the band announce their plans to retire for the evening after one last song, excused himself from Mr. Granger's enthralling advice and asked Hermione to dance.

As the parents watched them embrace as they rocked slowly on the dance floor, they noticed a happiness around their daughter long since missing.

"He's an odd one, Jean, I'll give him that."

"Um hum." was the only reply as she watched the two dreamily as they danced.

^__^

Fireflies lit the night sky as the festivities came to an end. Harry and Ginny stood hand in hand near the alter as everyone lined up to say goodbye. Fred and George headed the line, each with a very pregnant wife in tow.

"Won't be long now Gin, before you can be as radiant as Katie." Fred said lovingly rubbing his wife's large belly.

"Don't touch me, Fred." she slapped his hand away before kissing his cheek. "I've just got to get home, Gin. My legs are killing me."

"At least you only have a week Kat, I've got another three looking like I swallowed my cauldron." Angelina began to silently tear up. "The wedding was beautiful guys," she attempted to hug them both but couldn't and settle for a handshake. "Come on George." Both women began walking out of the grounds before Apparating loudly from the drive.

Fred smiled weakly at Ginny as he shook Harry's hand. "I bet you can't wait to get started on that, eh sis?"

George traded to Harry as he shook his hand, leaving behind a condom and a scrap of paper in Harry's palm. "Don't get started too soon," he said, only half smiling as the two walked after their wives. Ginny eyed Harry suspiciously as he shoved something far into his pocket.

Tonks, Dean, Padma and Parvarti, with Lavender in tow, most of the D.A. and numerous recognizable but long since past friends from Hogwarts, Oliver Wood, Viktor Krum...the faces began to blur with well wishers and drowsy acquaintances. Harry noticed the 'thank yous' becoming robotic before someone slapped his forehead with some kind of weed.

"For luck," came the airy explanation as Luna whacked Ginny as well leaving red dots on the newly weds foreheads. "I personally removed each nargle so your new home wouldn't have an infestation." Luna handed Harry the mistletoe and dreamily admired Ginny's dress. The two became fascinated with the topic of silk scarlies, who apparently ate fine silks as Harry examined the out of season plant.

"Fancy finding you and mistletoe, Harry." Harry's stomach twisted as he looked into the dark eyes of Cho. "Seems almost ironic." Harry saw Ginny move before he felt the brush of Cho's lips.

If it hadn't been for Ginny's form fitting dress and no where to keep a wand, Cho would have been dead before she hit the ground. Still, hair disheveled and lip bleeding, Cho seemed unaware she was sitting on the ground.

"Who the fuck invited you? Don't you know the hookers are before the wedding?"

"Back off, bridezilla. He was mine first."

"By that logic so was the entire eastern hemisphere." Ginny jumped forward ripping her dress skirt on both sides up to the hip and grabbed Cho's hair, ripping chunks out. Both girls were picked up off the ground and hung midair, Ginny by Harry and Cho by Draco.

"Let me get this straight, you're fighting over Potter?" Draco said as he tried to hide an astonished laugh.

"There's still some horses in the stables. Why don't you go spread your legs for something closer to your own species." Ginny flung furiously in the air obviously wanting to rip more than her hair off. "Or go find some hobo with the clap. You can't spread it if they already have it."

"Ginerva Weasly!" The entire crowd froze at the shrill voice of Molly. "Such language! And you...miss...miss thing will leave my daughter and her husband alone. Now!" Nobody breathed as Draco put Cho softly on the ground and they watched her Apparate off the grounds. "Now." Molly repaired Ginny's dress and hair as Harry released her. Molly smiled sweetly as her voice became sane. "Next."

"I could have taken her," Ginny said as she resumed shaking hands.

"I know love." Harry smiled.

"I say we schedule a rematch." Draco said as he pulled Hermione to his side his hand firmly on her ass as her bra strap, not for the first time that night, came undone.

"Draco!" Hermione playfully slugged him as she crossed her arms to support her chest.

"Race you to the master bedroom." Draco slugged Harry as they both chuckled. Then, as the girls both watched in embarrassment, the two grown men bolted for the back door.

^__^

Ginny rolled her eyes as the girls met up with the arguing boys. Arguing over who had won, they had reverted to best out of three odds and evens, at which they had also just tied.

"If it means that much to you," Hermione started, "you can both stay in there."

"Yeah," Ginny added as she started to walk away, "I hope you two have a wonderful night." She grabbed Hermione's arm and began to lead her down the hall, stifling laughter from the look she had left on their faces. She heard the sound of their fists hurriedly hitting their palms and turned around when she only heard it once.

"Damn it, Potter. You can't win if you don't throw." Draco said, obviously irritated. "In fact, I think if you don't, you forfeit, so we win."

"You know what, you win anyway." Harry said as he clapped Draco on the back. "We owe you. For the house and all. And..." he looked at Ginny and smiled, "well, for a lot of other things too."

Hermione crossed Harry on her way back and stopped to give him a hug. "Have a good night," she said, winking at Ginny.

"Yeah, you too." Harry said, but Ginny was surprised to see he was laughing when he turned towards her.

"OK, what's so funny?" Ginny asked when she was sure they were out of earshot. "I thought that was a real nice thing you just did for him"

Harry gave Ginny a real confused look. "How out of it was I?"

"What?"

"I don't care what he's done, that's still Draco Malfoy. I'm just sorry Hermione has to get pulled into this."

Ginny's brow began to look worried. "Harry, what did you just do?"

"Nothing," Harry said feigning innocence. "I just let them have the master bedroom, is all."

Ginny still looked confused.

"I just wish that I could be there when he realizes they're sleeping in his dad's bed. Like to see him get it up then." Harry laughed as Ginny slugged his shoulder then, just because she couldn't resist, joined him in laughing. It was, after all, pretty damn funny.

^__^

"Good luck, Potter." Draco said as he shut the door behind them. Hermione was surprised to find malice in his words.

"What did you say it like that for?" Hermione said as she looked around the immense room. It was as large as any house she'd been in, and nicer furnished, but she still wrapped her arms around herself at the ugly feeling the room gave off.

Draco crossed to her and took her in his arms as if protecting her from the rooms energy. "You have much to learn about being with a Malfoy. Lesson one: a Malfoy never makes a move without knowing he's getting the better deal." Hermione looked around the room, almost in fear and was surprised to see Draco's face expressing the same. "Now," he said shaking off his demons, "why would I fight so hard to make sure we got this _fabulous _room? " Draco sneered as he flung the furniture onto a pile in the fireplace and lit it in one motion. "Because, like always, I know something Potter doesn't." Hermione had become momentarily hypnotised by the growing flames and Draco nibbled her ear to get her attention back.

"And what's that?" Hermione asked, her need growing like the crackling fire.

"There's only one other bed in this house, and that's mine. AND, I'm pretty sure I broke it last time..." he smirked at her threatening glare, "I was in it. I'd like to see him get it up when he realizes who he's rolling in."

"Nice," Hermione scowled at his immaturity.

"Plus," he tenderly kissed Hermione's cheek, "like me, this room hasn't shown all it's cards." He stepped over and opened the two massive stained glass doors that had been hidden by pitch black drapes. Hermione stepped out and raised her hand to her open mouth. In between the two black pillars on the otherwise hideous balcony, Draco had hung a hammock and filled it with rose petals. Off to the side, a bottle of wine chilled in an ice bucket. Hermione walked past the dripping white candles to look over the railing. A large full moon stood centered above the gardens, still dressed in its wedding day finest. Draco joined her at the rail, fingering his wand as if unsure about something. Draco looked deep into Hermione's dark eyes and seemed to make up his mind.

"Kinda lame, but..." Draco said before raising his wand to the heavens. Hermiones' eyes began to tear up as the stars began swirling in and out of the clouds. The clouds positioned themselves over the moon giving it the apperance of a giant heart while the stars spelled out 'DM + HG'. Draco barly had a moment to admire his handy work before he was tackled onto the floor, the ice bucket spilling down his back.

^__^

Ginny ran a finger gently between her breasts as she watched the light flicker off Harry's hair as he prodded the dying embers. She had just removed his shirt when he noticed the fire dying and got up to feed it. She giggled at the thought that he was nervous. He turned at her laughter and lost his balance, sprawling out onto his ass, only making her laugh harder. He crawled over and began kissing her neck before laying on his back, his hands resting behind his head.

"Remind me again, why are we sleeping in the living room?" Ginny rolled over and pressed her naked form against his chest, running her finger down his 'happy trail' to play with the strings on his pajama pants.

"Because I don't want to wonder what the 'Malfoy coven' had done in that bed."

"'Malfoy Coven?'"

"You know there's been at _least_ thirteen naked witches in that bed."

Ginny giggled. _Like Draco would ever just stick to his bed, _she thought, not wanting to hinder Harry any further.

"Plus, it's kinda romantic. In front of a fire, laying on furs, wrapped in silks." Harry got suddenly solemn. "One day, Gin. I'll take you on a worldwide honeymoon and be able to afford to buy you anything. I couldn't even buy you a gift on your wedding day."

"Harry, you are my gift." Ginny said, gently kissing his chest. "The real you."

"Yeah, but you knew you were getting that." Ginny made an unsure face as Harry rolled to prop himself up above her and play with her hair. As he kissed her cheek, his fingers came across a forgotten rose that lay buried in her curls. He pulled it up and twisted it in his hands. Ginny watched as it enlarged and hardened, turning into a crystal before her.

"Now, I know you already had this, and it's only a rose, but now it'll be more than that. It's the first gift I gave you as husband and wife, and I've made it keep as a reminder. And never again will you have to question if I love you because, even if I can't say it or I don't know how to tell you 'I need you', somewhere you'll find a rose, and you'll know."

^__^

Ginny was still tearing up as they rocked slowly together and she smiled when Harry raised his head and she saw he was too. He had been so nervous she felt she was taking his virginity as the fumbled and moved slowly around each other. They talked about their day and plans for the future as if being together was a natural state of being. There was no rush to finish, they wanted it to last forever.

"Harry," Ginny whispered seductively into his ear as she ran her finger through his hair. "I love you so much, but if we don't switch spots I'm gonna lose my leg. It's falling asleep."

Harry laughed as they attempted to roll without coming apart, only to find they'd need much more practice. Ginny positioned herself straddled across his hips, smiling as he slid back where he belonged. She admired his body as if she had never seen it before, running her finger along his outline as she slowly rocked, closing her eyes as the pressure increased. She stopped at three long marks on his cut bicep and paused.

"Horntail, forth year," Harry said smirking in pride.

"Ah, yes," Ginny said, biting her lower lip at his attempt to look tough as she increased her speed.

"And this?" she asked, placing his left hand on her breast.

"Uh...um...Umbridge, fifth year," Harry said closing his eyes as her breast increased his yearning.

She ran a finger down his right forearm along a three inch line.

"Wormtail. Fourth." Harry offered unaided as if he knew the game but wasn't fully playing. His hands moved down to her hips, trying to assist her movement, but she made it clear she wasn't ready.

"I still think this is my favorite," she said, kissing his lightning bolt and removing his hands, placing them above his head and, to her enjoyment and his irritation, slowing her speed.

"What can I say, chicks dig scars." Harry said, opening his eyes and attempting a cocky smile.

"I wanna give you something now," Ginny said suddenly becoming serious. Harry stopped and raised an eyebrow. "but you have to trust me."

"Do I wanna know?" Harry asked, chuckling nervously.

"I've been told there's nothing like it," she said reaching for her wand, "but you'll have to trust me."

Harry sat up on his elbows, pulling her into a deep kiss. "I trust you."

Ginny smiled devilishly as she began rocking again.

^__^

Two floors up, hammock ripped off its pillars and clothes hanging from all odd hooks and rails, Hermione sat up quickly as they heard an odd noise fill the house.

"Oh my God!" she said looking around for her shirt. "I think that was Harry." She was startled when Draco reached up to stop her search and she saw that he was laughing.

"Don't you want to know if he's alright?"

It took him a few seconds to control his laughter. "He's fine. He's probably better than he's ever felt in his life."

"What do you mean?" she layed back and wiped her matted hair out of her eyes.

"Let's just say I gave Gin a little advice." He began laughing again. "I told her it'd work."

Hermione rolled her eyes as she kissed his sweaty brow. "Why do I put up with you?"

"Cause I'm fucking brilliant in the sac, love," he said kissing her cheek as his fingers made there way down below her waistline.

"Apparently," she said, referencing the growing moans coming from the living room.

"I just hope they're happy," she said, pulling his hand up to her lips and kissing them.

"Who cares?" Draco said, but a flicker in his eyes told her differently.

"I just hope we never have to live with them," he said, pulling the pillow over his head.

"_We_?" Hermione asked the pillow next to her. Slowly the top of Draco's eyes peeked out and she thought she saw hope in them.

"Yeah," was all he said, but it was enough for her. She leaned over and kissed him, knowing they'd all get their chance to start over.

---------------------------------------------------------

So that's it, ya'll. Don't forget to R/R. Keep on the lookout for the sequel Anything but Ordinary, coming soon. I expect it soon since over 25 chapters of that are complete as well. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed. I'm so thankful to everyone that has read this story. It really was my first and has led to so many other things. Let me know what you think now that you have a complete picture and please keep my page in mind when wanting to continue with this family. Trust me when I say...this is certainly not the happy ending they had all hoped for. They still have plenty of life to live. This is just the beginning.


	31. Next Installment

**I have posted the sequel to this story, Anything But Ordinary. **

This next installment takes place three years after the events of Skin Deep. The Prime Minister has released to the world that the magical community exists, breaking the Wizarding Secrecy Act, and forces the magical community to move into encampments, forcing entire family's to live in small homes, and brands them as magical for the safety of others. Hermione and Draco have just had their first child and when a member of their community is attacked simply for being magical, Draco joins forces with a woman that plans to fight back against the muggles for what they have put them through in order to protect his new family. The cost of his fight may just be more than he is willing to pay when it begins causing tension between the family.

It's slightly darker than Skin Deep but is honestly one of my favorites so far. If you enjoyed the dynamics of the characters in Skin Deep, make sure to follow their next adventures. Just when they thought they had achieved their "happily ever after."

Thanks for all of the support that you have given to Skin Deep. I hope that you enjoy the rest of the series as much. Let me know once you've checked out the first chapter what you think. Thanks again!


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